The Problem With USMNT

The history of the United States men’s national team, to put it simply, has been filled with profound mediocrity. The USMNT has competed in 11 FIFA World Cups. The highest finish in all eleven competitions was a dazzling 3rd place, which was in 1930 (the first ever FIFA World Cup). With recent disappointments in the Copa America and the Nations League, hopes for the USMNT are low. With the 2026 World Cup just around the corner, the USMNT need to figure some things out.

At the root of all of the USMNT’s problems is the pay to play system in America’s youth soccer system. If you don’t know what pay to play is, it’s basically when you have to pay a certain amount of money in order to participate in a club sport. This is a big problem because almost everywhere else in the world doesn’t have this system. In other areas in the world like South America and Europe club sports are free, if you're good enough you make the team. To elaborate on this the pro teams in these continents use the revenue they make to sponsor youth teams, who eventually get the chance to break through to the senior team. This system is better because if you're poor but talented you get the same opportunity as someone in a higher financial class.

The US is limiting the number of athletes able to compete at the club level with the pay to play system. On average the top tier club teams in America cost from 5,000 to 10,000 dollars annually. For a lot of families in America this isn’t an achievable amount. Many extremely talented players are prevented from getting the level of training they need in order to go pro. So, in conclusion the US is second tier to many other national teams because even though we have the third largest population in the world the pay to play system is limiting the amount of players we can develop unlike other countries in the world.