After winning the right to stage the 2026 World Cup, the U.S., Mexico and Canada had eight long years to put together teams good enough to make long runs in the tournament.
All while three teams have hired new coaches since May, when that marathon became a sprint, only Canada has momentum on its side heading into the final lap. That leaves Mexico and the U.S. in danger of blowing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to grow the sport’s popularity and secure hundreds of millions in new sponsorship dollars.
Mexico is starting over — again — after hiring its fourth coach since bowing out of the last World Cup in the group stage for the first time in more than four decades.