The Equalizer: Where US Men's soccer stands today

United States Men’s Soccer fans walking away from Red Bull Arena on the night of Sept. 1 had only one thought on their minds: how is this team going to qualify for the 2018 World Cup? Costa Rica, playing in its usual 5–4–1, outfought and outplayed a supposedly “superior” U.S. team to the tune of 2–0. This loss was historic for U.S. Men’s soccer; it was their first home qualifying loss by multiple goals in sixty years. Days later, an 85th-minute Bobby Wood equalizer against Honduras was all the U.S. could muster to keep World Cup qualifying anxiety at bay.

Even though coach Bruce Arena brought glory to U.S. soccer by winning the Gold Cup this summer, the team is still in dire straits in terms of World Cup qualification. They play in arguably the easiest qualification group in the world, nicknamed the “hex.” Six teams enter — most of which have a GDP less than a hundredth of the U.S.’s — and three teams leave with a World Cup bid. Even the fourth-place team can qualify by beating the fifth-place team from Asia’s qualifying group.

The team has two more qualifying matches: one against Panama and another against Trinidad and Tobago later this October. They cannot mathematically qualify before their last game, yet ESPN’s Soccer Power Index has them at a 83 percent chance to qualify.  The United States is blessed to have such a forgiving qualifying process.

Admittedly, Arena hasn’t had an easy job, and according to captain Michael Bradley, he’s done well in instilling a sense of confidence and comfort in his players. The defense should improve once John Brooks and DeAndre Yedlin come back from injury, and Christian Pulisic, the 19-year-old wonder kid from Pennsylvania who plays for European power Borussia Dortmund, will only improve with time.

For the first time since 1990, the U.S. Men’s team will only have until the last game to qualify for the World Cup. Whether they qualify or not, this will be considered their worst qualifying campaign in almost thirty years. What can be attributed to this poor showing? Given the nation's size and wealth, shouldn’t the team be showing some sort of improvement?

There isn’t a short answer to this question. The U.S. lacks the soccer infrastructure to develop top players — it’s no coincidence that Pulisic spent his later teen years at Dortmund where he could properly develop. Would Pulisic be the player he is today had he not gone overseas at the ripe age of 16? Probably not.

There is no unifying soccer philosophy in the U.S. that coaches from all levels can draw from, and the pay-to-play mentality of youth soccer keeps a swath of young kids from playing. The set-up of the MLS is frustratingly backwards, and compared to the European system, college soccer inhibits player development instead of improving it.

These problems are all interconnected and influence each other, but there is no panacea to the U.S. underperforming in soccer. Sometimes a failing system needs a shock to reinvent itself. Maybe it would do us some good if we blew it against Panama and Trinidad and Tobago and did not even qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.