Christian Pulisic has said the U.S. national team is going to Qatar with the mentality that it can win the World Cup.
After failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, the USMNT reached the 2022 tournament where it has been drawn in Group B with England, Wales and Iran.
There will be an expectation that the U.S. can advance from its group but beyond that, a deep tournament run would be almost unprecedented in American men’s soccer history.
But Pulisic has insisted that it’s counterproductive for his side to go into the tournament targeting anything less than a title.
“I think we’re going there with the intention to go win the World Cup,” Pulisic told ESPN’s Futbol Americas. “There is no reason why any team should go there without that confidence and that’s exactly how we’re going to go into this big event.
“We’re going to go in as a confident and a hungry side that is not going to back down from anyone and we feel that we can really make moves in this World Cup.”
“If you don’t believe that it can happen, it won’t happen,” the 23-year-old added. “We’ve seen crazier things happen for sure and I truly believe that we have a strong team, a strong group of guys that can accomplish anything. So that’s just the way that I think and the way that I’m going to believe going into this World Cup.”
The USMNT’s best World Cup finish came in the inaugural tournament in 1930, when it reached the semifinal. That tournament, though, featured a weakened field of just 13 teams. In the modern era, the USMNT’s run to the quarterfinals in 2002 represents its best World Cup finish.
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