U.S. captain Tyler Adams, the youngest captain in the tournament, consoled his teammates following the knockout round loss.
Courtesy of @USMNT on Twitter
By Max Steele
The young United States team survived the group stage of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but they won’t be advancing to the quarterfinals.
With a 3-1 knockout loss to the Netherlands last Saturday, the Americans’ dreams to raise the trophy will have to wait until 2026 when the tournament returns to their home country.
The Dutch were the first to score with a strike from forward Memphis Depay in the initial minutes and added a second just before halftime on a similar goal from midfielder Daley Blind.
The Americans responded in the second half with a deflection goal from substitute forward Haji Wright, but the Netherlands sealed the victory minutes later with a first-time volley from midfielder Denzel Dumfries for the final goal of the match.
The U.S., the youngest squad in the tournament, struggled on both sides of field.
Despite clocking more shots, shots on target, corner kicks, passes and maintaining 59% possession, the Americans failed to capitalize on most opportunities and netted their lone goal off an unusual deflection.
On the defensive end, they mismanaged their opponent, losing track of attackers in the 18-yard box and giving the Dutch three uncontested shots that resulted in goals.
It’s the third consecutive Round of 16 exit for the U.S., a country that has still yet to win its first World Cup. But fans believe that day is not too far away, including National Soccer Hall of Famer Clint Dempsey, who is tied as the U.S.’s all-time leading scorer.
“They got this country believing again,” Dempsey said while commentating on FOX. “That’s something we need. We need to inspire these kids coming up who are going to be the 23, 22, 21-year-olds that are going to break into this team and make it better for 2026.”
Tyler Adams, the U.S.’s 23-year-old captain, is also a believer in the future of this young program.
“I’m super proud of the boys’ performance,” Adams said after the game. “We showed that we can hang with some of the best teams in the world and best players in the world and that’s a lot of progress for U.S. soccer. We’re moving in the right direction for sure. But we need to keep pushing, because we’re not there yet, but we’re close.”
The Americans advanced out of the group stage after placing second in Group B behind England. They tied Wales 1-1 with a goal from forward Timothy Weah, tied England 0-0 and beat Iran 1-0 with the game-winner from Christian Pulisic.
