“It can never happen” turned into “it was never supposed to happen” on Oct. 10, when the United States men’s national team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Since then, many think articles have been written about how and why the United States failed to qualify; a feat that, at this stage in the development of United States soccer, and in this region of qualifying, should always be reached.
Although, that question fails to address the much larger picture and problem as to why the United States, 27 years after qualifying for the World Cup in 1990 and 23 years after the formation of Major League Soccer in 1994, is still miles away from being among the world’s elite.