Clint Dempsey has revealed the target he has set for the United States of America men’s national team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by the USA alongside Canada and Mexico, with the tournament scheduled to be held between June 11, 2026, and July 19, 2026.
Due to being one of the hosts, the United States of America, are assured of a place at the tournament alongside Canada and Mexico.
What Would Clint Dempsey Consider A Failure For The United States Of America At The 2026 FIFA World Cup?
Dempsey has stated emphatically that if Mauricio Pochettino’s side failed to progress past the group phase, then they would have had a bad outing at the competition.
Clint Dempsey indicated his confidence in the team and made it known that he sees the North American nation “getting back on track”.
Speaking to CBS regarding the United State’s chances at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 41-year-old said:
“I see this team getting back on track… Not getting out of the group on home soil would be a failure for me.”
United States of America At The FIFA World Cup
The United States best outing at the Mundial came in 1930, where they finished 3rd place based on FIFA’s retrospective rankings.
The North American nation were smashed by Argentina 6-1 in their semi-final meeting played in Montevideo.
They were eliminated from the 2022 FIFA World Cup in the last 16, following a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands.
Clint Dempsey And The United States of America
The 41-year-old is widely regarded as one of the greatest American players of all time, and he is the country’s top-scorer with 57 goals in 141 games.
He was instrumental to Argentina winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2005, 2007, and 2017, while also helping them finish as runner-up in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Clint Dempsey represented several clubs in his career, including Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham, and New England Revolution.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the 23rd edition of the competition, the quadrennial international men’s soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA.
It will be jointly hosted by 16 cities in three North American countries: Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first to be hosted by three nations and the first North American World Cup since 1994 when it was hosted solely by the United States of America.
The incoming edition will see the tournament expanded from 32 teams to 48, an increase of 16 from the previous 7 tournaments.
Countries will be split into 12 groups of 4 teams, with the top 2 of each group and the 8 best third-placed teams progressing to a new round of 32, as approved by the FIFA Council on March 14, 2023.
The total number of games played will increase from 64 to 104, and the number of games played by teams reaching the last four will increase from 7 to 8.
The tournament will last 39 days, an increase from 32 days of the 2014 and 2018 editions.
