Why this World Cup performance is 'just the tip of the iceberg' for USMNT
U.S. Women's National Team legend Brandi Chastain spoke with Yahoo Sports about the strong performance by the men's team in Qatar and what it means for the program with the World Cup set to come to the United States in 2026. Brandi joined Yahoo Sports on behalf of the “All-In with Frito-Lay” Initiative, benefitting coaching and development in youth soccer across the country. For more information visit www.ussoccerfoundation.org.
Video Transcript
[CROWD CHEERING]
BRANDI CHASTAIN: I've always believed the future is bright. I think we're always going-- we're leading ourselves in the direction of great outcomes and this team is no different. I think the youth of this team, I want to watch it grow because this is just the tip of the iceberg what we're seeing right now. And for this team to really, I think, 2026 will be really exciting, as it will be home. I'm very excited about the future. You know, I know we're finally to the place where I don't have to answer the question anymore, why is the women's team so much better than the men's team?
People will understand, well, number one, being a part of the World Cup is not easy, so don't pretend for one minute that any of these teams are like breezing through this tournament and thinking the World Cup is such an easy tournament. And the men's team is so deep now. It's deeper than it's ever been. And so for us going forward, it's going to be outstanding. Here's where I'm going to segue into the "All-In with Frito-Lay Initiative," because the partnership with the US Soccer Foundation is going to give access to young people to come to the field, to have coaches and role models and mentors who will give them not just the guidelines but the structure that would be needed to plant the seed.
Our work with Frito-Lay in this initiative and the $600,000 that they will be contributing to mentoring coaches, teaching coaches, giving them equipment, so that those 1,000-plus coaches can then influence 30,000 young people across the community, we're going to find the Tyler Adams, we're going to find the Christian Pulisics, we're going to find the Matt Turners in these spaces and they'll know that soccer belongs to them.
