It’s 2026! The United States Men’s National Team enter arguably its most important year as they prepare to co-host the 2026 World Cup. Everything leads up to that moment when the USMNT walks out onto the field on June 12th to take on Paraguay in that opening match with the hope that 47 other teams will have of winning it all. However, their dream takes on a different form as they try to inspire a nation by winning on home soil.
2026 is a bold year, so we’re going to take some big swings with the predictions.
Hopefully at the end of the year, we can look back and see that many of these were spot on.
At least five uncapped or 1 cap players from 2025 January Camp will make the World Cup roster.
January Camp is normally where some mainstays on the national team get their first shot. Take a look at the 2025 roster…five of those players that entered that camp with 0 or 1 international cap will find themselves representing this nation on the World Cup roster.
At least three players from the March 2025 roster will not make the World Cup roster.
Conventional wisdom says that the roster from the final window before World Cup rosters are named have the best shot of making the team. However, while some players will leave a lasting final impression, others won’t be so lucky. There will be at least three players from the roster that takes on Belgium and Portugal that will not hear their names called to the World Cup.
A U.S. player will win the World Cup Golden Boot.
This one is pretty bold, as there are so many great goalscorers who will head to the United States, Mexico, and Canada for the World Cup. However, the Golden Boot winner will be one of our very own, a USMNT player. We won’t say who, because we want to leave something to the imagination!
The USMNT will play in the Concacaf Nations League group stage again and dominate.
The Concacaf Nations League will resume in the fall, and it’s likely that they return to the format they started off with in 2019. That will see the USMNT play in the League A group stage once again. There, fresh off the summer, they will dominate their group to advance once again to the Nations League Finals, going unblemished against their opponents.
The USMNT will get 7 points to win Group D.
Paraguay, Australia, and a third opponent that will be Türkiye, Romania, Slovakia, or Kosovo. Each of those teams are formidable opponents. But the USMNT will have an unbeaten record of 2W-0L-1D to win Group D.
The United States will advance to the semifinals of the 2026 World Cup.
We’re saving the boldest one for last. Whether the team ends up winning their semifinal to play in the World Cup Final on July 19th or will settle for the Third Place Match on July 18th, the boldest prediction becomes true: the United States does inspire us all on a run to the final four.
There they are, our USMNT predictions for 2026. Hit the comments and give us your predictions for the team as we begin the year!
