"If we didn't have American Football, I believe that Team USA would be a top 3 team in the world." Rob Gronkowski said it plainly on The Late Run, and whether you agree or not, it's the kind of take that's hard to dismiss when the USMNT's World Cup 2026 opener is just weeks away.
Gronk's logic is straightforward: America's most gifted athletes — the wide receivers, the corners, the freaks of nature who would be wingers and box-to-box midfielders anywhere else in the world — are funneled into the NFL pipeline from childhood. Soccer gets what's left.
The women's team proves the point
He backed it up with the most obvious counter-evidence available. "That's why I think our women's team is so good — they get their best athletes to play right from the beginning." Five World Cup finals. Four titles. You can argue about coaching and infrastructure, but the USWNT has consistently produced world-class athletes who committed entirely to the sport. The men's side simply hasn't had that same pool to draw from.
It's a credible structural argument. Brazil doesn't lose its Neymars to another sport. France doesn't watch its Mbappés get drafted. The US does — constantly, systematically, at every level of youth development.
Pochettino's team needs to deliver this summer
None of which makes Mauricio Pochettino's current squad any easier to back. Losses to Portugal and Belgium in 2025 friendlies, plus a Gold Cup exit to Mexico, have done little to inspire confidence. The USMNT sits 16th in the FIFA rankings and is projected to advance from Group D — but that's a floor, not a ceiling.
Their best-ever World Cup run ended in the quarter-finals in 2002, beaten narrowly by Germany. Two of their last three tournaments ended at the Round of 16. The trend isn't moving in the right direction fast enough for a host nation.
- World Cup opener: June 13 vs Paraguay, Inglewood, California
- Current FIFA ranking: 16th
- Coach: Mauricio Pochettino
- Best-ever WC finish: Quarter-finals (2002)
Gronkowski's theory is interesting dinner-table debate. But this summer, Pochettino's squad will be judged on results — not counterfactuals about what might have been if Christian McCaffrey had grown up kicking a ball instead.
