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Former Team USA striker Taylor Twellman will be back in an analyst role for the FIFA World Cup 2026 on behalf of Yahoo Sports. Before giving his analysis to the world over the next few months, I got a chance to speak to Twellman, a month in advance of Team USA’s W.C. bid, and two months ahead of the 2026 American Century Championship, about the American national team and the W.C. field.
Overall, Twellman is optimistic that a quarterfinal berth is possible for Team USA. With that said, he didn’t downplay the field in Group D, in which the American team will play Turkiye, Paraguay, and Australia, and certainly didn’t undersell the rest of the field.
On whether or not America is the frontrunner in Group D…
“I don't know if they are. It's not an easy group, but it's a favorable group. Did the United States beat Paraguay in a friendly? Absolutely. Against Australia, are they favored? Yes, you should be. You should be favored at home against Paraguay and Australia. This is the interesting part: I don't know who's going to show up from the United States.”
“Could this team go to the quarterfinals? Absolutely. Could this team be third place in this group? Yeah. Because over the last four years, we haven't seen anything definitive from them. But if you win the group, the way the World Cup is set up, they play a third place team in the first knockout round, and you avoid the top eight best teams in the world until the quarterfinal. That in and of itself is motivation that you have to win the group.”
“I just think Turkiye's going to be underappreciated. They can play a game that can be difficult for the United States. I'm not saying they should be heavy favorites against the United States, but I don't think, you know, if that's Kosovo, that's a different type of profile and opponent you got to play. It becomes a more interesting group. And I think in a more exciting group.”
“You can do the numbers. It's through the roof, the percentage, if you get three points in your first game, the percentage of winning your group and going through the group are really high. So the first game against Paraguay is the most important.”
On whether or not France is a vulnerable favorite…
“The French often have a history of having more talent than anyone, but get in their own way. But the last three World Cups, they've been brilliant, right? So, based on talent alone, France could send two teams and they'd probably go to the Round of 16 or quarterfinals. And I think Spain, I think the top two most talented teams in the world are Spain and France. Now, does Messi go? Does he play a huge role? Can he rest for Argentina?”
“Which one of the heavy hitters plays the most games in controlled climates? No one's talking about that. So if France, if England plays four games in 95-degree weather and France plays two games in controlled climates in better environments, that changes everything. This is the World Cup now, especially with 48 teams; it’s survival of the fittest. So the deepest teams are going to have the upper hand. Right away, you have to say France and Spain are the two deepest teams.”
On which World Cup team is being slept on the most right now…
“Morocco. The way they've performed in the last few major tournaments, you look at their group, it's tough. Brazil, Scotland, and Haiti. They are an interesting team to play against. They're very good at playing different styles. They've got one of the best defenders in the world. They beat Portugal and got a red card and still won the quarterfinals in the World Cup last time. So they've got this experience. I've seen them play a lot against the U.S. youth national teams, and I’ve seen their youth quality. So I think Morocco is an interesting team to look at.”
On how the U.S. has been as a FIFA World Cup 2026 co-host so far…
“FIFA has said that this will be equivalent to 100 Super Bowls. I think the only country in the world that can host 100 Super Bowls in one month is the United States. Now in saying that, there hasn't been a ton of positive conversation around the World Cup leading into it, whether it's ticket prices, whether it's transportation, tailgating, whatever it may be. So, I hope that changes over the next 30 days; I think it will.”
“I think the knockout stages are where the real momentum of the World Cup will be seen because I think some of the group stage games, with so many teams, you're going to have some lopsided games and results. But the reality is, I think you're going to get, when the knockout stage comes, you're going to see the real fever and a real temperature rise.”
On his American Century Championship prediction…
“There's a real fun group right now. You know, naturally everyone knows Marty Fish by this point. Obviously everyone knows the caliber of player he is. I've played in, I don't know, like three or four now final groups with Joe Pavelski and he's as good as anyone, a real gamer. John Smoltz, you know, is another one that just kind of just gives it to you and never goes away. I haven't had the pleasure of playing Steph Curry yet. So that gets interesting, but there's, you know, five or six guys that I think you would go right at the forefront and say those guys are the cream of the crop and really good.”
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