{"id":3540,"date":"2026-06-25T10:03:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T10:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3540"},"modified":"2026-06-25T10:03:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T10:03:35","slug":"can-the-united-states-actually-win-the-world-cup-it-no-longer-seems-like-an-impossible-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3540","title":{"rendered":"Can the United States actually win the World Cup? It no longer seems like an impossible dream."},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>It starts with one syllable, at top volume.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI!!!!!!!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Which elicits a similarly hollered two-word answer.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>\u201cI Believe!!!!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And thus the back and forth begins, getting louder with each line.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI Believe That \u2026 \u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI Believe That We Will Win!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And on it goes, to a percussive beat: \u201cI Believe That We Will Win!\u201d \u201cI Believe That We Will Win!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3538\">More than anything else, Susan Collins is testing whether old school politics still work<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>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\u2019s place on the world soccer stage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The \u201cBelieve\u201d holds more belief than ever, leading to a question that would have been unthinkable even as this World Cup began.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Could the United States actually win the whole thing?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the words of Fox analyst and former international star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, \u201cYes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Cue the crazy, hopeful thoughts dancing in our red, white, and blue heads. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIf you didn\u2019t believe before, I will repeat, \u2018Start believing,\u2019 \u201d Ibrahimovic told studio host Rebecca Lowe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>As group play nears its end, it\u2019s not just that the United States headed into Thursday night\u2019s third and final Group D match with the top spot already secured. It\u2019s 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\u2019s moves are working, and even as the competition is about to ratchet up, winning the group means barely having to leave the West Coast.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Their confidence is soaring.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cYou look at it and you start to say, \u2018Well, things do look really good,\u2019 you know, \u2018Can this team do it?\u2019 \u201d Evan Cipriano tells me from California, having attended all the US matches. The 36-year-old Holliston native is the secretary of Boston\u2019s chapter of the American Outlaws, the official supporter group of the US men\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019ve seen 70-odd games in person let alone following along on TV, and I haven\u2019t seen the US play the way I saw them play against Paraguay in my lifetime,\u201d Cipriano said. \u201cThe way they dominated the ball, really just controlled everything, the pressure on the opponent, the chances created. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3536\">Game 78: Red Sox go for series win in matinee at Rockies<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cSo yeah, you start to look at it and you\u2019re like, \u2018Maybe we <i>can<\/i> do this?\u2019 All you need in a tournament is a little bit of luck, whether it\u2019s a favorable draw like I think we\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span>Related<span>: <\/span><\/span>International journalists walk a fine line at World Cup, and break some unspoken rules<\/div>\n<p><span>In the landscape of international sports, the stars and stripes is rarely the kit of underdogs. But men\u2019s 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\u2019s proven able to shake up the complacency that had crept into this so-called golden generation of players. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>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\u2019s been a revelation. Remember, the United States didn\u2019t 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.<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span>Related<span>: <\/span><\/span>More World Cup coverage<\/div>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019ve told these guys that this is the most fun, special, enjoyable group that I\u2019ve been around,\u201d Ream, 38, told reporters at the team\u2019s California training base. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve been around a long time. That\u2019s not to say that other groups weren\u2019t special, that other groups weren\u2019t fun, that guys didn\u2019t put in everything they possibly could. But there\u2019s something about this one that just feels different. As long as we continue to enjoy ourselves, we\u2019re going to be in a place where we want to be.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>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 \u201cno way,\u201d 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 \u2026 But still \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Why not us? Why not US?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s ridiculous to say that we want to win it,\u201d defender Chris Richards said on Fox after the Australia win. \u201cObviously, we have a lot more games before we get to that moment, but you know, we take it one game at a time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=3534\">Sabres agree to send Alex Tuch to the Capitals as part of a sign-and-trade deal<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>But, he added, \u201cWe want to lift a trophy by the end of this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Americans are on home soil, backed by rabid fans, and they have momentum. The star players are performing and the coach\u2019s moves are working.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Can the United States actually win the World Cup? 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