USA Soccercast

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#166 - Reacting to the World Cup Draw! Dec 09, 2025

Show notes

The 2026 World Cup Draw took place last Friday, and the United States Men’s National Team finally learned who they would face in the group stage next summer. We discuss it on Episode 166.

Paraguay, Australia, and the winner of UEFA Playoff C (Türkiye, Slovakia, Romania, or Kosovo) will be the USMNT’s opponents in Group D next summer. We take a look at the rest of the groups and how they were drawn out, and we of course touch a little bit on the circus that was the World Cup Draw. It took 85 minutes for the world to see the first non-host team drawn, but on this episode we reveal the groups much quicker than that!

After the break, we touch on some comments from Tyler Adams, Chris Richards, Tim Ream, and head coach Mauricio Pochettino about the USMNT’s draw, how drawing teams they’ve seen recently in Paraguay and Australia affects preparation, and if they are focused solely on the group stage or allowed themselves to think beyond that on potential pathways. It’s great to get their take on the draw and the work they have to make the roster when it’s announced in May.

Don’t forget to follow us on Bluesky, Twitter, and YouTube! Rates, reviews, and subscriptions really help our reach wherever you get your podcasts as well as on YouTube. Head to our Linktree, which will give you access to all our affiliate links and our Stimulus store! And finally, tag us on Twitter or email USA Soccercast at Gmail dot com with any topic suggestions or questions for the show.

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#165 - Looking back at the USWNT’s successful window Dec 04, 2025

Show notes

The United States Women’s National Team has completed their 2025 after finishing their final window with two shutout wins over Italy. We recap the window and the year for the USWNT on Episode 165.

We first go through the most recent window and some of the best performances. Catarina Macario, Olivia Moultrie, Claire Hutton, Sam Coffey, Rose Lavelle, and Lily Yohannes all get kudos for their play. Italy was a strong team, but the USWNT were in control from Moultrie’s goal 75 seconds into the first match all the way till the very end of the second match.

We also look back at 2025 for the USWNT. They were 12W-3L-0D on the year, but the biggest victory they had was the elevation of the depth of the player pool. We’ll discuss how Emma Hayes created that depth by not just bringing along new players, but giving them more opportunities to play at all levels of the national team system to get them comfortable with the system. The result is a large player pool of talent that is ready to step in when their name is called to play at a high level.

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#164 - The World Cup Draw: How will it work and what is ideal for the USMNT? Nov 29, 2025

Show notes

The World Cup Draw is a few days away, and we react to the pots and procedures on Episode 164!

The World Cup Draw procedures and pots were released earlier in the week, and the USMNT knows which teams it could draw for each match in the group stage. We take a look at the draw, who is in each pot, and which teams the USMNT could draw for each match of the group stage. As a reminder, the pots for the World Cup Draw, which takes place on December 5th:

Pot 1 - United States (14), Mexico (15), Canada (27), Spain (1), Argentina (2), France (3), England (4), Brazil (5), Portugal (6), Netherlands (7), Belgium (8), Germany (9)

Pot 2 - Croatia (10), Morocco (11), Colombia (13), Uruguay (16), Switzerland (17), Japan (18), Senegal (19), Iran (20), South Korea (22), Ecuador (23), Austria (24), Australia (26)

Pot 3 - Norway (29), Panama (30), Egypt (34), Algeria (35), Scotland (36), Paraguay (39), Tunisia (40), Ivory Coast (42), Uzbekistan (50), Qatar (51), Saudi Arabia (60), South Africa (61)

Pot 4 - Jordan (66), Cape Verde (68), Ghana (72), Curaçao (82), Haiti (84), New Zealand (86), UEFA Playoff A winner, UEFA Playoff B winner, UEFA Playoff C winner, UEFA Playoff D winner, Inter-confederation Playoff Path 1 winner, Inter-confederation Playoff Path 2 winner

We look at how the draw will work and the new pathways that have been created for the top teams.

After the break, we ask the questions: what is the ideal group for the USMNT? Conversely, what is the group to avoid? There are some teams that could be favorable for the USMNT to face, particularly when they would face them. There are also some doomsday options that would pose some real concerns for the team and make the group stage a real effort.

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#163 - What a fun USMNT window that was! Nov 19, 2025

Show notes

We recap a fun November international window for the United States Men’s National Team live from Tampa on Episode 163!

It’s a morning after the match edition of the podcast, where we recap what was a very successful window for the USMNT: a 2-1 victory over Paraguay and a 5-1 thrashing of Uruguay. We go through what some of the successes were, notably the players that excelled, and discuss how the intensity has increased and the fight has elevated for this team and maybe that’s why they’re doing so well. We go through the goal scorers and briefly rate the performances of players by positions. As we move closer to the 2026 World Cup, we’ve learned a lot about these players and we discuss some of that briefly.

We also discuss the news that Major League Soccer is moving to a fall-spring schedule, and some of the positives and negative that will come with the change. There’s also a format shift in how the table will work as well as who teams will play during each season - a single table with divisions. We touch on that as we fly high with happiness from the international window.

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#162 - What are the USMNT priorities for November? Oct 31, 2025

Show notes

We are back with Episode 162 to take you into the Halloween weekend!

The USMNT are back in action in a couple of weeks, and the competition is starting to pick up. We discuss some of the priorities for the national team as they get ready for matches against Paraguay and Uruguay. From improvements to the midfield play to leveling up against tougher competition, the USMNT still has their work cut out for them in November.

We also dive into the news that January Camp will be replaced starting in December 2026 with December Camp. The move could help MLS players get those opportunities at times where they are more in peak fitness and outside of preseason windows where their clubs could balk at their absence. However, it would put a strain on fans who enjoy traveling to the annual camp to watch guys fight to become the next line of players who work their way into the mix with the USMNT.

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#161 - Discussing the MNT roster drops, World Cup tickets, and soccer balls Oct 07, 2025

Show notes

Finally, the World Cup ball is out, and its name is Trionda! We talk about it for a couple minutes…the design is pretty nice and it hopefully will look great when it’s on the field of play.

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#160 - Opening up the mailbag Sep 30, 2025

Show notes

We’re back with Episode 160 of the USA Soccercast! There are a ton of questions surrounding the United States Men’s National Team and the upcoming 2026 World Cup, so we took to social media to gather questions and provide the answers you desire.

A lot of questions centered around the USMNT, from the roster to certain players and their chances of making the World Cup roster. There’s also the questions on head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s evaluation of the player pool and narrowing down the choices for his roster. We even discuss whether the USMNT have adequate competition lined up to properly prepare them to host the world next summer.

We also get into aspects of the World Cup, from the recent announcement of the mascots to which venues we’re looking forward to seeing to the questions about how morally we can support the USMNT in these “interesting” times. No question gets ducked on this episode, and we welcome more on Bluesky or Twitter as we get ready for the October international window.

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#159 - Ranking the best USMNT wins of all time Aug 08, 2025

Show notes

This will be a fun one to take you into the weekend! On Episode 159, we take the suggestion of a listener and we take it to the nostalgia by ranking the 10 best, most important wins in United States Men’s National Team history.

There are so many big wins to consider throughout the course of time, from the obvious to the cult classics. From Columbus and Jeonju to Natal and Belo Horizonte, we go through the list and recall some of the biggest moments ever for the USMNT. So sit back, relax, and fire up the time machine for the trip down memory lane!

Don’t forget to follow us on Bluesky and YouTube! Rates, reviews, and subscriptions really help our reach wherever you get your podcasts as well as on YouTube. Head to our Linktree, which will give you access to all our affiliate links and our Stimulus store! And finally, tag us on Twitter or email USA Soccercast at Gmail dot com with any topic suggestions or questions for the show.

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#158 - Answering World Cup ticket questions Aug 01, 2025

Show notes

The 2026 World Cup ticketing sales are set to begin next month, and it’s about time to start addressing some frequently asked questions. On Episode 158, we do just that.

First, we discuss the World Cup Draw which is reportedly set to take place on December 5th in Las Vegas. The draw always is a night for glitz and glamor, and Vegas could be the best backdrop for that particular night.

After quickly discussing the draw, we get into the first ticket phase for the 2026 World Cup, and it’s one for all Visa cardholders. The application window runs September 10-19 and will provide the first major lottery for fans around the world to get tickets to the biggest sporting event on the planet.

After the break, we get to the questions. There have been several general questions about how the process will go for fans to get tickets to World Cup matches, whether they are for the USMNT or matches involving other teams. How much will tickets likely cost? Can I just find tickets on StubHub or another third party reseller? What will it be like to travel between the United States, Mexico, and Canada for matches? We don’t have all the answers, but we get into a lot of information that we do know on this episode.

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#157 - Landon Donovan speaks on USMNT, 2026 World Cup Jul 25, 2025

Show notes

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is less than 11 months away, and the United States Men’s National Team is in the final phase of preparations to co-host the world. In the aftermath of finishing runner-up to Mexico at the Gold Cup, there have been a lot of debates about what the team - from the players to head coach Mauricio Pochettino - needs to do in order to be operating at max capacity when they open the World Cup next June in LA.

Enter Landon Donovan. He’s been outspoken in both his criticism of the USMNT and what it needs to do to improve as well as supportive of some of the strides the team took during the Gold Cup. The USMNT legend spoke with the USA Soccercast on Episode 157 about his work he’s doing with Real Madrid and Abbott to increase access and opportunity to kids across the country looking to improve their game. He also took the time to evaluate what the USMNT needs to prioritize ahead of next summer and what they need to do to make a deep run in the 2026 World Cup. He then closes out with his wish list for what the lasting legacy from the World Cup would be.

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