"It is literally impossible for the US to win the World Cup." Those were Tim Howard's words — not a throwaway take, not false modesty. A flat verdict from the man who was the face of American goalkeeping for two decades.
The timing is sharp. The United States have just become the first team to clinch top spot at World Cup 2026, recording back-to-back wins over Paraguay (4-1) and Australia (2-0) to qualify from Group D with a game to spare. Six goals scored. One conceded. The country hasn't won consecutive World Cup matches since 1930. And yet here's Howard, on the Unfiltered Soccer podcast with Landon Donovan, pouring cold water on the whole thing.
"The US will need to play the greatest game they've ever played three times in a row," he said, then immediately caught himself. "Sorry, four games in a row!"
He's not wrong to pump the brakes. Winning a group on home soil — even convincingly — is a very different ask from beating the last four or five teams standing in a 48-team World Cup. The Americans have climbed to 13th in the live FIFA rankings off the back of these results, up from 17th coming in. That's a real number, not a PR exercise. But 13th in the world and World Cup winner are separated by an enormous gap, filled by the kind of opponents who would make Paraguay and Australia look like warm-up acts.
Donovan sees it differently — and Ibrahimovic went even further
Donovan stopped short of Howard's dismissal, arguing the squad "can absolutely compete against any team in this World Cup." That's a more measured position — acknowledging the ceiling without pretending the floor isn't there.
Then there's Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who delivered his entire World Cup prediction for the US in a single syllable on FOX Sports. Rebecca Lowe asked if America could win it. "Yes," he said. That was it. Classic Zlatan, and honestly — whether you believe it or not — it'll shift a few lines.
For now, Pochettino faces a genuinely interesting decision ahead of the final group game against an already-eliminated Türkiye. With first place locked up, rotation is the obvious call — Howard himself predicted Pochettino would "down tools" in exactly this scenario. Resting Pulisic, Adams and Balogun ahead of the knockout rounds makes tactical sense, even if it makes the last group game a dead rubber.
What the knockout rounds actually require
This is where Howard's logic lands. Winning one knockout match would be progress by recent USMNT standards. Two would put them in the quarterfinals, which would be a genuine landmark. Four — all the way to the final — means dismantling elite European or South American opposition in succession, on the biggest stage, under pressure the squad has never collectively experienced at this level.
That's not defeatism. That's the bracket.
The Americans have earned their optimism through two professional performances, and the home crowd advantage is real — Seattle was loud, and it will only get louder in the knockout rounds. But the gap between "capable of competing with anyone" and "capable of winning four straight elimination matches" is exactly what Howard is pointing at.
"That's just the reality," he said. Hard to argue with the framing, even if you think he's underestimating Pochettino's side.
