Can USMNT’s depth at the 2026 World Cup make a difference?

Let’s take a minute to do something I’m not sure has ever been done before: think about all the things that went well. US men’s national team In the last World Cup.

Their best player–and the best player in program history–played like this. Christian Pulisic put at risk the future of his dynasty Scoring the winning goal in the final match of the group stage against Iran. He either scored or assisted every goal the US scored in Qatar, and he backed it up with constant threats. He led the team in both expected assists and expected goals. You can’t ask for anything more than that.

timothy weh Scored a goal against the opener, balancing the other side of the attack wales and emphasizing the depth of the opposition backline. Europe based midfield Weston McKenney, Yunus Musa And tyler adams It was the power of the team – especially disarming. England in a group-stage match in which the Americans competed for possession of the field.

fullback, sergino destination And antony robinsonThere were important buildup-play engines: first with his passing and dribbling, second with his never-ending off-ball running. tim reamThe 35-year-old, in his first World Cup, allowed the US to control possession and build from the back like we’ve never seen in a World Cup. And matt turner Looked like Matt Turner, even though he was riding the bench armory.

In other words, all the best American players played like the best American players. The problem was not a lack of top-level talent. Obviously, Pulisic, McKennie and Co. all need to play well this summer to push Mauricio Pochettino’s team forward, but the reality is that these are genuinely talented players who play well often.

Instead, what really hindered the Americans in Qatar — and beyond luck, will determine how far they go this summer — was their depth, or lack thereof. Every team that wins the World Cup has depth, and the USMNT didn’t have it four years ago.

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How important is depth in the World Cup?

To answer this question, I went back and looked at the past 16 World Cup semi-finalists.

In 2006, football was still stuck in that reactive tactical netherworld created by Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez, but by 2010, Pep Guardiola’s possession-based approach had triumphed, and Jurgen Klopp’s physicality counter-pressing It had just begun to boil. The demands of the game were quite different in 2006, so I decided to stop the analysis there.

I looked at the semi-finalists because these are the four teams that have achieved objective success in the tournament, and then I looked at how each team employed its bench players. In other words, how important was depth to teams that performed well at the World Cup?

First, here’s a comparison of the average percentage of minutes played by the 12th to 16th most-used players among the 16 semifinalists:

Player: Average. Minimum. %
12th: 42.6%
13th: 34.6%
14th: 28.8%
15th: 21.9%
16th: 16.9%

And here’s how those numbers broke down per tournament:

Therefore, the use of a 12th player has remained fairly consistent over time, but the reliance on players from 13 to 16 has increased significantly. This is driven by a combination of managers’ growing understanding of should subbing more oftenAnd also the three subs allowed per game have been increased to five since the COVID-19 pandemic.

But there is a bit of noise in these numbers because two of the semi-finalists ultimately play in the third-place match in which they are rarely selecting their full first-choice 11. This is probably going to increase the number of minutes for all of these players. If we only look at the eight finalists from the last four World Cups, the minutes are distributed as follows:

Player: Average. Minimum. %
12th: 40.4%
13th: 33.4%
14th: 28.5%
15th: 20.3%
16th: 13.7%

It’s not much of a difference, but there is a slight reduction in each slot.

For the per-tournament number of finalists:

Of course, every tournament has its own unique quirks. The 2010 World Cup was played in the South African winter. The 2014 World Cup featured a cooling break because parts of Brazil were extremely hot. The 2018 World Cup was in Russia and still… mostly normal? And then played in the middle of the 2022 club season in Qatar – in December instead of June.

Given how hot it is likely to be in the United States this summer, it seems like the peak figures for 2022 are just right to show us the rest of the way. They may also be a little too conservative.

in qatar, France Manager Didier Deschamps divided his minutes as follows:

12th: Ibrahima Konate, Liverpool center back: 44.2%
13th: Youssouf Fofana, Monaco midfielder: 34.1%
14th: Randal Kolo Muani, Eintracht Frankfurt forward: 27.3%
15th: Kingsley Coman, Bayern Munich winger: 25.0%
16th: Marcus Thuram, Inter Milan forward: 22.3%

And here’s how coach Lionel Scaloni’s guidance went argentina For his third World Cup trophy:

12th: Lisandro Martínez, Manchester United center back: 43.6%
13th: Angel Di Maria, Juventus winger: 42.0%
14th: Lautaro Martínez, Inter Milan forward: 34.5%
15th: Leandro Paredes, Juventus midfielder: 32.5%
16th: Gonzalo Montiel, Sevilla fullback: 17.1%

Winning the World Cup probably requires at least four players in addition to your most-used 11 playing 25% of the minutes or more. And in 2022, almost all of those players were playing for Champions League or Champions League-quality teams.

How did the USMNT compare?

In 2022, Ream, Adams, Turner, Musah, Robinson, Dest, Pulisic and Weah all played at least 85% of minutes. McKennie was the only member of the true core who was below that mark, but he was still out 75% of the time.

As far as benches were concerned, there weren’t even many. USMNT usage compared to France and Argentina is as follows:

And these were the players:

12th: Haji Wrightantalyaspor forward
13th: Brandon Aaronsonleeds united winger
14th: Cameron Carter-Vickersceltic fullback
15th: giovanni reynaborussia dortmund attacking midfielder
16th: Jesus Ferreirafc dallas forward

Now, one reason the US numbers are so low is that they have only played four matches, and France and Argentina have played seven, including an unforgettable final that went to penalties. It’s natural that managers will need to dig deeper into their roster as the total number of minutes continues to trend upward.

You might want to look at it and blame US coach Greg Berhalter for not managing his team more aggressively – but when you look at the players and their performances, it’s really hard to blame them. Wright looked out of place most of the time and his goal was against Netherlands A happy accident happened in the round of 16 which hit his heel. I’ll also never forget the moment against the Netherlands when Aaronson beat the 32-year-old daily blindJoe was pretty much a human traffic cone for 1v1s at this stage of his career and got stuck in stonewalling.

Carter-Vickers came on for the Iran match and was brilliant, but he’s a centre-back. Reyna’s family Was trying to get Berhalter fired during the tournament, and he was completely forgettable in his round-of-16 cameo and throughout the remainder of the club season thereafter. Meanwhile, Ferreira was not at the same level as his other teammates.

All nine of America’s leading players in 2022 are playing, or have recently played, at a high level in Europe – but that’s about it. The fact that Berhalter turned around walker zimmerman The uncertainty of the center back spot next to Reem and then Wright, Ferreira and then the center forward is highlighted in order to win a vital match. Josh Sargent Everyone was getting a chance, there was a black hole.

This was not a roster equipped to handle a deep run.

What about the 2026 World Cup?

This is where I encourage American fans to have some hope.

A few weeks ago, my colleague Jeff Carlisle He predicted what he thinks the starting lineup will be against on 12th June paraguay At SoFi Stadium:

The biggest question is the goalkeeper, but otherwise I would say this is undoubtedly a better lineup than what we saw in Qatar. Reem is four years older, but chris richards And Mark McKenzie There are big upgrades over the other center backs who will play in 2022. And then, of course, Folarin Balogun That’s a long way from where any American striker was four years ago.

But what about players who can play 12th to 16th depth?

He is the one who debuted in 2022 and is currently the starter for marseilleThird place team in France. there is a midfielder johnny cardosoWho played all 180 minutes of Atletico Madrid’s impressive win over Tottenham in the Champions League round of 16. there is an attacking midfielder malik tillmanwho played about two-thirds of the minutes bayer leverkusenAnother Champions League team.

psv forward ricardo pepi It looks like it’s likely to move into the millions of dollars at some point soon. full back alex freeman just left Villarrealwho is third behind real Madrid And barcelona In LaLiga, for €3.5 million. hybrid protector joe scali Continues to play every minute of every game for Mönchengladbach in Bundesliga.

Even potential bench players who were on the bench four years ago have improved. Wright is second in the English Championship with 14 non-penalty goals, and he is doing so for a team with a 22-point lead at the top of the table. Aaronson is doubling goals and assists with Leeds in 2022.

There are many other really good championship players, aidan morris And patrick agyemangand this of MLS This time’s players, especially cristian roldan And max arfstonIt looks likely to have a much greater positive impact than what we saw last time.

If the US is to win at least one knockout round match, it will need memorable contributions from players who don’t start every match.

While we’re still waiting for the first true American superstar to emerge, Pochettino will enter this summer’s tournament with something no American manager has ever had before: a group of Champions League starters and European veterans, sitting on his bench.

In other words, if depth is essential to a deep run at the World Cup, this iteration of the U.S. men’s team has a chance to go much further than it has in a long time.