What will the USMNT do since it doesn’t need to qualify for the World Cup? It’s complicated.

The bonus — or curse, depending on whom you ask — of being one of three host nations for next year’s FIFA World Cup is the loss of being a cohesive unit "hardened" by the rigors of qualifying

Led by the prowess of Diego Luna (10) and others, the U.S. men's national team made it to the Gold Cup final. It's the last time the Americans will play in a meaningful match before next summer's World Cup. Read moreScott Kane / AP

by Kerith Gabriel

Published July 10, 2025, 5:26 p.m. ET

With the Concacaf Gold Cup completed, there’s a bit of uncertainty now about what’s next for the U.S. men’s national team ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The bonus — or curse, depending on whom you ask — of being one of three host nations, is that there are no qualifying matches to be played, only a wait-and-see till the teams in your group are announced in December.

From there, federations will feverishly try to schedule “tune-up friendlies,” as the exhibition matches are customarily called. As many nations continue to vie for a spot in the World Cup during this final international window, the U.S. men have just two matches scheduled — against South Korea (Sept. 6, TNT) and Japan (Sept. 9, TNT).

The concern is that for much of this year, the rosters assembled by head coach Mauricio Pochettino have yet to inspire a genuine feeling of optimism for the team to progress deep into next summer’s tournament, especially with the bulk of the matches on home soil.

Earlier this year, the United States came up short against Panama in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals and then again against Canada in the third-place game, complete with a roster many would argue featured names that should comprise Pochettino’s World Cup roster.

And last week, the U.S. fell, 2-1, to North American rival and fellow World Cup host Mexico in the championship game of the Gold Cup. (Canada is also a cohost next year.)

That game marked the last against a Concacaf opponent, something that U.S. goalkeeping legend Tim Howard told The Inquirer earlier this year doesn’t necessarily bode well, especially for an American team with so much to prove.

“It’s difficult, it’s difficult not running the gauntlet,” Howard said while in Chicago for the United Soccer Coaches Convention. “When you run the gauntlet of Concacaf qualifying, it hardens you. It gives you another layer of element, added element to it, [to develop] the team camaraderie and the brotherhood of learning how to win in big, tough moments. And this team won’t get that.”

Howard also noted how the impact of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, which the U.S. hosted, and elevated the sport.

“Having the World Cup in our country launched the hunger we see in the American game today,” Howard said. “If you go back to 1994, everything that we know about soccer in America is based on that World Cup, and it’s one of the most, if not the most, special sporting events in the world. So, yeah, in some ways not having qualifying [matches] is a miss for Canada, Mexico, and the U.S., but you just hope that there will be smaller moments and fixtures to develop that continuity.”

To Union captain and former U.S. men’s national team midfielder Alejandro Bedoya, qualifying offers a chance to see the depth of a nation’s player pool. Bedoya was part of the U.S. contingent that made it to the knockout rounds of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and says having depth is vital to any national team looking to make a deep run.

Admittedly, Pochettino showcased just how deep the U.S. player pool is, as he featured essentially two different American rosters during the Concacaf Nations League tournament and the Gold Cup.

“The most important thing about any team, really in general, but more importantly a World Cup team, is depth,” Bedoya said. “Who are those depth pieces? Who are those guys that are going to be able to come in and the level is not going to drop considerably?

“And in terms of [World Cup] qualifiers, the biggest part of it is the rotation. Because you play two games back to back, or three days apart, or four days apart. So you need that rotation at times. You need those depth pieces, and you need them playing with each other consistently.”

Earlier this year, JT Batson, the chief executive officer and secretary general for U.S. Soccer, acknowledged that finding quality matches with other nations will be difficult due to qualifying, so the time for that camaraderie will have to begin early in 2026.

Next year, there are two FIFA international match windows before the World Cup, one in March and another early June, the latter of which is usually reserved for final tune-up matches before teams arrive at the 11 venues scheduled to host matches in the U.S. and the five among Canada and Mexico.

“I remember our camp before [the World Cup in] Brazil,” Bedoya recalled. “That was a good month-long camp and it was important for us. I think we all knew our roles, we all knew who was reliable, we knew the guys that were going to come in and make a difference after that camp.

“So if you don’t have the luxury of having qualifying to have more camps, that one before the World Cup, I think, will tell the team a lot about themselves. And how they perform in their tune-up matches will offer a lot about what we can expect.”