ATLANTA — With the FIFA World Cup just over two months away and two high-profile friendlies looming, the U.S. men’s national team is feeling the pressure that comes with hosting the tournament. The Americans play No. 9 Belgium on Saturday and No. 5 Portugal on Tuesday at Atlanta’s Mercedes‑Benz Stadium — two stern tests before the roster is finalized.
Players say they’re trying to tune out distractions — logging off social media and focusing on training — but they also acknowledge the stakes. “Hosting a World Cup on home soil, it comes with its pressures,” midfielder Weston McKennie said. Christian Pulisic, the team’s marquee player, added: “There’s pressure. I feel it. Yes, like, it’s there. But it’s nothing that I can’t handle. I’m going to attack it head on. We are as a team.”
Those matches are meant to reveal how the team measures up against true contenders. Head coach Mauricio Pochettino said the federation purposely scheduled top opponents “because we wanted to play against the good teams, teams that can show our reality.” The results over these two games — and particularly a win over sides the caliber of Belgium or Portugal — would bolster belief that the U.S. can compete deep into the knockout rounds. Belgium could even be a World Cup opponent in an early knockout stage this summer.
Optimism has returned after a disappointing 2024. Since last September the U.S. has gone unbeaten against a string of World Cup-bound teams, beating Japan, Australia, Paraguay and Uruguay and drawing with Ecuador. That run has lifted expectations, and these friendlies offer a sharper measure of whether the form will hold up against elite European opposition.
The games are also the final audition for players hoping to make Pochettino’s World Cup roster, due in late May. Pulisic and McKennie are essentially locks, but decisions over younger contributors — such as Diego Luna, Gio Reyna and Sebastian Berhalter — are more fraught. The coach conceded selecting a final roster will be difficult: “It’s going to be tough to pick the right players for the final roster. It is a big, big job. I am suffering two months in advance,” he said.
Hosting World Cup games in the U.S. for the first time since 1994 adds another dimension. That 1994 tournament accelerated soccer’s growth in America; a deep run in 2026 could create similarly lasting momentum. The U.S.’s best modern showing came in 2002, when it reached the quarterfinals with upset wins over top teams. Matching that result is reasonable; reaching the semifinals would be transformative.
“These friendlies are not friendlies,” midfielder Cristian Roldan said. “So that’s our chance to show what we’re capable of, who we can compete against.” He added that with hosting comes responsibility: “There’s a lot of expectation within our locker room. With pressure there’s a huge responsibility on our part to show up and create those long‑lasting memories for the next generation.”