The US had a 3% probability of not qualifying for the 2018 World Cup according to ESPN’s SPI. However, Honduras defeated Mexico. Panama defeated Costa Rica. And finally, the US let in two goals to a young and scrappy Trinidadian team who wanted the win more. The US couldn’t claw back, and they lost. So they do not get to go to Russia. Sad as it is, there are some takeaways we can learn from this situation, so that this failure will not happen again.
Hire a coach for one cycle
Clearly, after the first cycle of a coach’s national team career, a change at the helm is needed.