Can the United States actually win the World Cup? It no longer seems like an impossible dream.

It starts with one syllable, at top volume.

“I!!!!!!!”

Which elicits a similarly hollered two-word answer.

“I Believe!!!!”

And thus the back and forth begins, getting louder with each line.

“I Believe That … ”

“I Believe That We Will Win!”

And on it goes, to a percussive beat: “I Believe That We Will Win!” “I Believe That We Will Win!”

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As it has for more than a decade now, this signature chant from Team USA backers is erupting in stadiums, on the streets, and at World Cup watch parties everywhere. Yet if the words are the same as they always were, the longer this World Cup journey goes on, the more it feels like something within them has changed. Gone is the wistful, almost desperate urging that once anchored them, replaced by a growing confidence in Team USA’s place on the world soccer stage.

The “Believe” holds more belief than ever, leading to a question that would have been unthinkable even as this World Cup began.

Could the United States actually win the whole thing?

In the words of Fox analyst and former international star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, “Yes.”

Cue the crazy, hopeful thoughts dancing in our red, white, and blue heads.

“If you didn’t believe before, I will repeat, ‘Start believing,’ ” Ibrahimovic told studio host Rebecca Lowe.

As group play nears its end, it’s not just that the United States headed into Thursday night’s third and final Group D match with the top spot already secured. It’s the way the Americans have done it, taking control from the outset, winning consecutive games in group play for the time in history while beating Paraguay and Australia by a combined 6-1 score, winning two straight in any World Cup for just the second time in history, the first being in the inaugural 1930 tournament. They are on home soil, backed by rabid fans, and they have momentum. The star players are performing, the coach’s moves are working, and even as the competition is about to ratchet up, winning the group means barely having to leave the West Coast.

Their confidence is soaring.

“You look at it and you start to say, ‘Well, things do look really good,’ you know, ‘Can this team do it?’ ” Evan Cipriano tells me from California, having attended all the US matches. The 36-year-old Holliston native is the secretary of Boston’s chapter of the American Outlaws, the official supporter group of the US men’s national team. The energy from Los Angeles to Seattle has been infectious, he says, with night-before parties, onsite tailgates, and an unforgettable march to the match ahead of the Australia game, all of it capped by some of the best soccer he has ever seen.

“I’ve seen 70-odd games in person let alone following along on TV, and I haven’t seen the US play the way I saw them play against Paraguay in my lifetime,” Cipriano said. “The way they dominated the ball, really just controlled everything, the pressure on the opponent, the chances created.

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“So yeah, you start to look at it and you’re like, ‘Maybe we can do this?’ All you need in a tournament is a little bit of luck, whether it’s a favorable draw like I think we’re starting to get, mixed in with, you play an opponent, have a great day, they struggle, and next thing you know, you could be in a semifinal or something. These bounces can go your way. I think people are starting to believe that it is possible, that anything is possible.”

In the landscape of international sports, the stars and stripes is rarely the kit of underdogs. But men’s soccer has stubbornly remained the exception to the rule, resistant to every national effort to crack the code the likes of Argentina, Brazil, Spain, England, or France have done for decades. Mauricio Pochettino is the latest to attempt to reverse the trend, and since his hiring as coach in late 2024, he’s proven able to shake up the complacency that had crept into this so-called golden generation of players.

Pochettino made every player re-earn his spot, from the renowned feet of Christian Pulisic to the veteran legs of Tim Ream, infusing the roster with a level of grit and fight that has carried directly into the World Cup games. It’s been a revelation. Remember, the United States didn’t have to qualify thanks to being one of the host nations (alongside Canada and Mexico), leaving scant opportunity to play true high-stakes games together. The Americans have hit their stride nonetheless, feeding off each other as much as they are feeding off the fans.

“I’ve told these guys that this is the most fun, special, enjoyable group that I’ve been around,” Ream, 38, told reporters at the team’s California training base. “And I’ve been around a long time. That’s not to say that other groups weren’t special, that other groups weren’t fun, that guys didn’t put in everything they possibly could. But there’s something about this one that just feels different. As long as we continue to enjoy ourselves, we’re going to be in a place where we want to be.”

Could that be at MetLife, err, New York New Jersey Stadium on July 19? The odds, not to mention the likes of all-time US goalkeeper Tim Howard, still say “no way,” knowing the United States would have to play four more of the greatest games it has ever played to take home the trophy. But still … But still …

Why not us? Why not US?

“I don’t think it’s ridiculous to say that we want to win it,” defender Chris Richards said on Fox after the Australia win. “Obviously, we have a lot more games before we get to that moment, but you know, we take it one game at a time.”

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But, he added, “We want to lift a trophy by the end of this.”