Former United States international Mix Diskerud believes the nation might have continued on an upswing if Jurgen Klinsmann had not been fired in 2016.
Klinsmann enjoyed a successful first World Cup cycle with the USMNT, guiding it through a difficult group in 2014, finishing second behind eventual champions Germany and ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal along with Ghana.
The USMNT then fell in extra-time to Belgium in the last-16, though it relied on a 17-save Tim Howard performance to survive a Belgium onslaught.
Editors' Picks
However, Klinsmann’s fortunes declined in the following years, with a disappointing elimination to Jamaica in the 2015 Gold Cup, and despite a solid fourth place finish at the 2016 Copa America Centenario, there were a pair of losses to open the final stage of 2018 World Cup qualifying.