Soccer newb question, how did we tie England?

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We outplayed them after the opening fifteen minutes, and really controlled the game til the 70th, at which point England decided they were going to play for a draw.

It was frustrating as we won the midfield battle completely.

To keep things simple, England has a very talented side but their coach does not play to their strengths.

In addition, fans are often very knowledgeable about their own team but aren’t nearly as critical of other sides. England has had a bad run of results against good teams in international competition the last few months despite having a ton of talent.

The US is also much better than in the past. Besides our lack of a top center forward, we are honestly a damn good team with guys who could start for many countries.

Americans usually are better than the sum of their parts as well since there aren’t as many huge assholes around.

The weakest part of the team is the head coach who is a good guy but out of his depth. However he was pretty good today, and a lot of the biggest concerns people had (such as Aaron Long playing every game) have not come to fruition.

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Did the welsh losing to Iran take a lot of pressure off of England where they played for a draw today?

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they piddled around a lot just running clock. I had decided USA were more fit and would run them down at the end. they got that too. their answer was to pass at the back.

USA almost won anyway. hit the frame. I had the sense England would have played at another level if need be.

We aren’t as bad as the second half of the Wales games and some of the leading up friendlies made us look. Tyler Adams absolutely bossed them, and I thought as a unit the back line did a great job as a whole. When Weston is on there’s a reason he’s a regular for a top team in a top 5 league, and he was on until he got tired.

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Assuming our ceiling is likely the first round of the knockout stage now, how much better could or should we be in 2026 when we’re hosting?

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I'd say absolute floor of expectations should be quarterfinals, but also we have no idea what the new format with the expanded field will entail.

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Adding onto this, I know that we’re a super young team meaning that we should only mature and get better for 2026. Assuming our ceiling is likely the first round of the knockout stage now, how much better could or should we be in 2026 when we’re hosting?

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in 2026... does just 1 country get the host auto-bid or does US, Canada, & Mexico all get host auto-bids?

also...does that impact how we handle the qualifying/run up to World Cup 2026?

They probably will give all 3 auto bids without a sweat since 2/3 make the word cup regularly enough and are fanbases that travel and Canada made it this year indicating their program is in a good place.

Also they’re expanding to 48 teams so baking two extra host spots into that is easy for many to stomach without feeling like any more deserving team might be shut out.