U.S. Against the World: Four Years with the Men's National Soccer Team

- It's been a crazy four-year journey.

The cameras have seen everything.

- Probably everybody would say a roller coaster, right?

The beauty and the madness.

The injuries.

The question marks.

Trials and tribulations.

- It's absolutely been one hell of a ride.

- This is gonna show what it is to--

to be a part of this U.S. Men's National Team

and what we're about and who we are as people and players.

- Pulisic on the run. Pulisic on his way out...

- Well, here's another mountain to climb,

but this is the one we've always been climbing towards.

- Being close to it, you always want more.

Bleeds out Matt Turner.

- I needed him to keep playing

'cause I needed us to keep moving forward.

- Everyone in this room has been on a fucking journey

to get to this point.

There's a reason you're here.

Everybody's reason could be different.

There's one common theme.

We're here to represent this patch.

From the first whistle to the last,

we go out there and we fucking show what it means

to fucking represent this crest.

Let's fucking go.

USA on three.

all: USA!

- The legends and special guests,

a very, very warm welcome

for the 68th FIFA Congress, 2018.

So we have a winner

for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The member associations of Canada, Mexico, and USA

have been selected to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

- Doesn't get much bigger than playing

in a World Cup on home soil.

This is where you wanna be.

- 16 unique cities unite the world.

- North America will be the heartbeat of a global party

like we've never seen before.

- The scale of this opportunity,

it's hard to grasp.

- 6 million people coming to the stadiums.

Dozens of millions in the fan fests.

6 billion people watching.

The biggest spectacle that the universe has ever seen.

- Being on home soil playing on the world's biggest stage,

there's definitely gonna be a lot of eyes on us,

a lot of pressure.

- Pressure comes with the game of football.

I mean, there's gonna be a lot of expectations.

There's gonna be a lot of people wanting us to do well.

- This U.S. team almost has a responsibility to do well.

- Can you imagine 30 years down the line and be like,

well, what--what was the-- what was the turning point?

2026. Who was on the team?

- So my mom has a very famous chocolate chip cookie recipe,

and I promised my teammates when it was my birthday

that I would bring these cookies in

'cause I thought my mom was gonna be here.

But she didn't end up being here,

so I'm just trying to get it all perfectly

right as she does.

I think I got pretty close.

All right. See how that goes.

They look a little puffier.

Yeah.

- Do you know why? - Why?

- When they're--when they come out of the cold.

Yeah.

- But they'll be fine 'cause they're gonna taste amazing.

That's what the key is. - Yeah.

So when you take them out--

- Hershey, Pennsylvania, if there's a place

that'll always be home to me, that's it.

It's about as normal American a town as you can get,

a pretty good example of a place that

could compare with most of the rest of the U.S.

when it comes to, you know, not giving two damns about soccer.

It was football, you know, basketball,

all the other stuff.

When I was six, seven years old,

watching those World Cup games,

and Landon scores that goal--

And he's missed it!

Donovan has it! From home!

Doing the slide!

And the United States are going through!

- And Clint scores that goal against Ghana.

- On the back foot here. Dempsey! An early goal!

One of the earliest scores in World Cup Final history.

Clint Dempsey!

- That memory right there, that moment just watching

a screen is a huge reason why I wanted to do what I--

what I do.

I think back to that kid, if he saw what I was doing now

in a top club in Europe.

What a finish!

[announcer shouting indistinctly]

- At this moment, he's one of the best players in the world.

He's a star.

- Getting to play in some of the biggest stadiums

in the world with some of the best fans in the world,

just the passion of the fans

and what it means to the city...

It's huge to me.

Oh, they look really good.

They got the golden on top.

Yeah, I think I nailed it.

All right, who wants a fresh chocolate chip cookie?

Anyone?

But truly when I go back and I get the opportunity to play

with the national team--

that means just as much to me if not more.

Representing your country,

it's the greatest joy of my life.

It'll be the best memories I have after my career,

is being a part of this group.

So we made a pact to each other that we wanna change

soccer in America forever.

And there's no better opportunity than to play

a World Cup on home soil.

That 2022 team is really where the story started at.

["The Star-Spangled Banner" playing on piano]

Hey-o.

Oh, my goodness goodness.

You like--you like Milan Fashion Week, that's all.

Man, that's crazy.

Isn't that what you wanted?

Yeah, I have it.

Did you borrow that?

Wherever he goes, you're gonna get it redone.

- To be able to play in a World Cup for the U.S.

really is a tremendous honor.

Now as a coach, it's also a tremendous honor.

It starts today.

From the moment you first kicked a soccer ball

when you were how many years old.

It's right there.

- Everything you've done since then

has led you to this opportunity.

All the hard work...

All the hours you put in training,

all the traveling,

and now it's about just taking advantage of that opportunity.

20 years from now, when you're talking to your kids,

what story do you wanna be able to tell them?

I've been in two World Cups,

the one I talk about all the time...

- The U.S. have their first ever victory in the knockout

stages of a FIFA World Cup.

And one I never talk about.

And you can probably figure out what we did in one

and what we did in the other.

It's all about...

There were two major things that led me to this job.

The first thing was the honor of coaching your national team.

The second part was the rebuild project.

- Ladies and gentlemen, the United States

have not qualified for the World Cup.

- This is an utter embarrassment.

You can't get a draw against Trinidad?

- It was a wake-up call to everyone.

We gotta be better.

What are we doing?

What are we doing!

- When we missed the World Cup in 2018,

it set the program up for--for change.

We reorganize our staff.

- A new technical development, technical leader,

and our first ever GM for the men's national team.

- We are absolutely thrilled to welcome

Gregg Berhalter as our new head coach

for the U.S. Men's National Team.

He knows what it means to wear the crest.

- Six months after we didn't qualify for the World Cup,