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The former USMNT Sta Holden player identified a big problem that the team must understand before the start of the World Cup next year.
Holden, 39, said that the team should determine which players will be on the field.
“I think the biggest problem for the USMNT is to determine who the 11 guys are going out on this field on June 12, 2026, who can inspire people and get results. There has been nothing for two years since the World Cup in Qatar which made me feel that we have made progress,” Holden told PK Press Club Digital.
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The American player Stuart Holden (11) continues the ball with the Panama player Roberto Chen (23 years old) during the 2013 Cup championship match in Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, on July 28, 2013. (Jerry Lai-Usa today Sports)
“I think that is the objective of development and the number of investments that we have put in the game in this country is that I have not seen anything that makes me think that we are going to do everything we have never done before.”
“This is this group of players, not only to make us believe, but to make ourselves believe, but to make ourselves believe by obtaining results and creating a momentum before this moment. So, when they go out on this area, they know that they can do the work.”
During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the United States was eliminated in the round of 16.
However, the best USMNT player, Christian Pulisic, does not play in the Gold Cup, which, according to Holden, is a big problem.
“I think it’s a big problem, because I think that the United States national team is playing, I want the best 23, 11, in any case, in any case, American players playing in these areas in these moments. And I also want players who are delighted to play and represent their national team at all times,” said Holden.
US SOCCER GREAT thinks that the American team can shock the world during the next World Cup
The former professional football player and analyst of Fox Sports Stuart Holden and his wife Karalyn Holden pose for a photo on the red carpet for the “One Year To Go” for the FIFA 26 World Cup event at Fox Studio Lot on June 11, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Images Jessica ALCHEH-IMAGN)
“And it is not only one,” huh, maybe I will come at that time. “So I think that’s what we miss.
Pulisic will be back with USMNT for the World Cup, but Holden has a player that fans should look otherwise than Pulisic.
“I think Weston McKennie is a player who always excites me because he just has a really raw talent. He is an excellent athlete, but he is also a player. In some of the greatest moments when he presents himself with a goal,” said Holden.
“I hope it is a guy who takes and assumes part of this responsibility for the World Cup next year and being a guy who can really create moments. We cannot just have a good player, we must have four to five of our best players playing in their absolute maximum for this team to do something special.”
Holden played for the USMNT from 2008 to 2013 and the midfielder scored three goals in his mandate.
The former professional football player and Fox Sports analyst, Stuart Holden, interviews the red carpet for the “One Year To Go” for the FIFA World Cup event at Fox Studio Lot on June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles, California. (Images Jessica ALCHEH-IMAGN)
The 39-year-old is currently a football analyst for Fox Sports and is delighted that the world will see the football culture that the United States has built.
“I am excited, as a guy who lives in Los Angeles now and has for ten years, so that people come to visit Los Angeles and see the football culture that we built here. I think back to the final that we built here in 1994 (when the World Cup was the last in the United States),” said Holden.
“The other part for which I am excited is that I have two young children, and I can’t wait to take them to games in our own backyard, and I let them see the best players, the biggest teams, and the experience, because this is how we inspire the next generation of people. So I am delighted with these fans who will be inspired to be part of our game.”
