{"id":2764,"date":"2026-06-15T10:34:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T10:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2764"},"modified":"2026-06-15T10:34:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T10:34:23","slug":"injury-kept-arlingtons-miles-robinson-out-of-the-last-world-cup-four-years-later-hes-back-on-soccers-biggest-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2764","title":{"rendered":"Injury kept Arlington\u2019s Miles Robinson out of the last World Cup. Four years later, he\u2019s back on soccer\u2019s biggest stage."},"content":{"rendered":"
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If you ask Miles Robinson, he\u2019ll tell you that he was confident that he\u2019d make it back.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Foxborough will see the three best strikers in the world in Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, Erling Haaland, and Harry Kane<\/a><\/p>\n

But few injuries are tougher to return at full strength from than a torn Achilles, like the one Robinson suffered in the spring of 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n

It could hardly have come at a worse time for the Arlington native \u2014 then a defender for MLS\u2019 Atlanta United \u2014 who was not only expected to make the United States squad for that winter\u2019s World Cup, but a strong contender to start for the Americans in Qatar.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Robinson had started every game in the previous summer\u2019s Gold Cup, even scoring the winner in the final against Mexico. He was an MLS All-Star in 2021. Then, with one wrong step, it all changed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was one of those situations where it was really tough in that moment,\u201d Robinson said, \u201cand then you kind of had to like ground yourself in being grateful and recognizing that you\u2019re still in the position to potentially make the next one.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen that happened, we were all devastated, because we knew what this injury was costing him,\u201d said Robinson\u2019s older sister, Rebecca. \u201cThis was potentially a huge turning point in his career, and for it to just be taken away so quickly … It was so hard for me to see him like that, because I knew he was genuinely heartbroken.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Few have seen Robinson\u2019s journey from Arlington youth soccer to the US national team like his sister, an athlete in her own right who helped stoke his initial interest in the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were competitive, but not so much in a way that there was any jealousy or anything like that,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was really just us always trying to make each other better, you know?We would often, after school, just me and him, go down to the field by our house and just practice together for hours.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Related: <\/span><\/span>More World Cup coverage<\/div>\n

The younger Robinson\u2019s talent was obvious and versatile. He opted to play club soccer for Boston Bolts in high school, which ruled him out of playing soccer for Arlington high school. His contributions to the Spy Ponders were limited to the basketball court, where he dominated, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a very unique basketball player,\u201d said Arlington High athletic director John Bowler, who coached the school\u2019s boys\u2019 basketball team when Robinson came through the program. \u201cHe could guard center down to the point guard, he drove the ball up the court, he was probably the fastest on the court and the strongest, he had the best basketball IQ.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing what he did with only playing basketball a few months a year; he was Globe All-Scholastic, league MVP his junior and senior year, I think we were 24-2 his senior year. He was just incredible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But the scouts were at his soccer matches for a reason. He was strong, fast, technical, agile; the prototype for a top defender.<\/span><\/p>\n

By the time her younger brother was looking at colleges, Rebecca was starring on the track at Syracuse (she graduated as the school record-holder in the indoor 400m).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the soccer coach coming to my track practices,being like, \u2018Hey, we got to get your brother to Syracuse,\u2019” she recalled. \u201cI was like, say less, let\u2019s make it happen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That was Orange men\u2019s soccer coach Ian McIntyre, who managed to bring Miles Robinson to upstate New York in 2015. There, he flourished, winning ACC Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Want a beer at Boston Stadium? Be prepared for your wallet to take a hit, with FIFA raising concession prices<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought \u2014 we knew \u2014 we were getting a good one,” McIntyre said. \u201cWe knew that we had a real driven, motivated player with an extremely high ceiling.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t long before the pros came calling. Robinson entered the 2017 MLS SuperDraft after two seasons at Syracuse, going second overall to Atlanta. He struggled for playing time for two seasons, then broke through as a starter in 2019, the same year he made his international debut in a friendly against Mexico.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson\u2019s stock rose and rose. He was named in the MLS Best XI in both 2019 and 2021 and became a regular starter for the national team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then came that wrong step in a game against the Chicago Fire in 2022, and with it a torn Achilles just six months before the World Cup.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMiles has expressed this himself, but that low point was when he learned so much more about himself,\u201d Rebecca said. \u201cAnd I am just so proud of him. He\u2019s 29 and he\u2019s my younger brother, but he feels so much older than that to me, because he\u2019s so wise. He is so much more in tune with himself, he meditates each morning, he\u2019s really into journaling and just being really in touch with himself, and it\u2019s so evident now how much he\u2019s grown these past four years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The recovery was long and grueling, but he returned nine months later. That 2023 season was his last with Atlanta before he moved on to FC Cincinnati, where he was named an All-Star again in 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson also broke into the national team set-up again, playing every game for the US at the Olympics in 2024. As he started nearing his best form again in 2025, a chance to make the team for this summer\u2019s tournament came into focus.<\/span><\/p>\n

The call finally came last month, when US coach Mauricio Pochettino named his squad for the World Cup on home soil, and Robinson was on the list. His first call was a family FaceTime.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom was the first one to pick up, and she just screamed,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/span><\/p>\n

If anyone questioned if Robinson could make his way back from that devastating injury to earn a World Cup spot, he wasn\u2019t among them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I ever doubted it, because I think I recognize the importance of like positive thoughts, and how important it is to see where you want to go in the future,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been very positive throughout these last four years, throughout the ups and downs, trying to stay grateful.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a lot of hard work, kind of like all culminating to this moment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson didn\u2019t get a chance to play in Friday\u2019s US opener against Paraguay. But whatever happens over the next couple of weeks, he\u2019ll have made a World Cup team at a home tournament, and will have plenty of friends and family in attendance all month.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems picture perfect,\u201d Rebecca said. \u201cI keep telling to my family that I can\u2019t even believe this is real. It feels like out of a movie, how it\u2019s all progressed, and it makes it that much sweeter that it\u2019s on home soil, just to be here watching him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Patriots could use depth at edge rusher and tight end, and more leftover thoughts from training camp<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt all happened the way it was supposed to happen, it was meant to be.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Achilles tear ruled Robinson out of the World Cup in 2022, but it didn’t keep him down for long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"\nInjury kept Arlington\u2019s Miles Robinson out of the last World Cup. 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