Why outsiders believe the USMNT can make a deep World Cup run - ESPN

ATLANTA — There is considerable buzz here in the U.S. around the United States men's national team. Celebrities pack their matches out — the cameras picked out Ed Norton, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Paris Hilton, Jessica Alba and Will Ferrell at their last match — and it feels like the spotlight is growing ever brighter on the USMNT with every passing match.

In this expanded 48-team World Cup, the U.S. was fancied to get out of its group with Paraguay, Australia and Türkiye. But to win it? Well, perhaps not.

Now we're getting to the ruthless part of the tournament, and in the modern era, the U.S. has never gotten past the quarterfinals (2002, where it was defeated by Germany), with round-of-16 exits at its two previous tournaments in 2014 and 2022. So, as the U.S. prepares for its round-of-32 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina, what can we expect?

ESPN talked to a host of experts who sit outside the immediate USMNT bubble — Phil Neville (ex-England international, and former manager of Inter Miami and Portland Timbers); Nick Cushing (ex-New York City FC manager and current manager at NWSL side Denver Summit); and ESPN pundits Nedum Onuoha, Don Hutchison, Hugo Sanchez, Shaka Hislop, Stewart Robson, Jared Borgetti, Ricardo «Tuca» Ferretti and Jan Åge Fjørtoft — for their perceptions of where the U.S. is, how far it can go, and whether it's time to get excited.

Neville: There's one thing that's critical to changing outside perception and that's performance on the big stage. What we've seen is they've probably been in the top three or four best teams in the World Cup so far in terms of tactical system, enjoyment, style of play, quality. I mean, you're talking real top performances. Because they just look like they're having