For United States coach Gregg Berhalter, having the 2026 World Cup final played in New Jersey adds another incentive, since he grew up near MetLife Stadium, the site that will host the championship game of the expanded tournament. 48 nations and 104 parties. tournament.
“If there was already no motivation to try to get to the final, now there is a little extra motivation to play, potentially 15 minutes from where I grew up, in a World Cup final,” Berhalter said in an interview. Monday. “It would truly be a dream come true.
“We really want to make the country proud.”
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FIFA awarded the July 19 final to the home of the NFL's New York Jets and Giants, which opened in 2010. It will close the first three-nation tournament, with Mexico and Canada hosting 13 games each.
The U.S. team will train at its national training center in suburban Atlanta ahead of the World Cup and will play its first game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on June 12. Following the same time zone, the Americans will play seven days later at the Lumen in Seattle. Take on and finish the group stage at SoFi on June 25.
“I don't think we could have made a mistake,” Berhalter said. “We're going to have great local support.”
Since reaching the semifinals of the first World Cup in 1930, the United States has advanced to the quarterfinals only once. That happened in 2002, when Berhalter was part of the team that lost 1-0 to Germany in South Korea.
The advantages of being at home with his core of players (led by Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams, all still in their 20s) are tempting for Berhalter, who led the United States to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup. World Cup in Qatar before losing to Holland.
Berhalter singled out Morocco, which had a thrilling run to the semifinals to become the first African team to reach that stage of the tournament, as an example of where the United States should be aiming.
“If you think about Morocco before the last World Cup, you know that anything can happen, right?” Berhalter said. “You get to the semi-finals and you're one game away from the final.
“The diversity on our team is exactly what America is. And that's the beauty of our group. You hope that Americans see themselves in our team. And when they see us play, they can identify with our group.”
As hosts, the United States will not play in World Cup qualifiers. The team will be busy this year with two tournaments, the Concacaf Nations League and the Copa América, both at home.
They are the defending champions of the Concacaf competition and will face Jamaica in the semi-finals on March 21. Mexico and Panama will play in the other semifinal. In the Copa América Bolivia, Panama and Uruguay will play in the group stage.
Berhalter confirmed that defender Sergiño Dest will be in the Nations League squad despite being suspended for the game against Jamaica following a red card in the team's 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago in November.
“I'm not sure that this group will continue to develop and that we need World Cup qualifiers now,” Berhalter said. “It's about how to beat the best in international football.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this article.
