It has been eight years since the United States men’s national team last appeared on soccer’s biggest stage, the World Cup. Eight years of waiting. Eight years of dreaming. Eight years of discovering and developing and then shaping a new generation of talents into just the right mix to contend for the sport’s biggest prize.
On Wednesday night in Brooklyn, Gregg Berhalter, the U.S. coach, laid his cards on the table by revealing the 26 players who will travel this month to Qatar for the Americans’ long-anticipated return to the World Cup.
The team’s hopes will be pinned to a core of young stalwarts led by Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and a few others who have formed the foundation of the squad in recent years.