Tyler Adams Reveals USMNT Semifinal Goal in 2026 World Cup Bracket After Draw Reveal

U.S. Men's National Team midfielder Tyler Adams believes a "realistic" goal for the United States is to make the semifinal of the 2026 World Cup.

Adams, who captained the USMNT to the Round of 16 in the 2022 World Cup, spoke to reporters after Friday's draw put the United States in Group D with Paraguay, Australia and one yet-to-be-determined European team.

"It's fair to say that the last World Cup, we couldn't set a bar or a standard for anything," Adams said Friday. "We didn't know what to expect. We hadn't been through the process. We didn't know what it was going to be like. Now, looking back on it, I think we have more experience. We're a lot more mature. We've grown a lot as individuals, and as a team.

"Everyone's going to want us to say, winning it is obviously the goal. Like, our idea is to win. That's the goal. But I think setting the benchmark of the furthest the U.S. team has gone is also realistic. We want to go and make a run, but again, it's a game-by-game mentality."

The farthest the USMNT has gone in the modern era of the World Cup was in 2002, when a team led by Brian McBride, Landon Donovan and Gregg Berhalter made it to the quarterfinal against Germany.

That team came one controversial handball call away from advancing to the semifinal. The USMNT has not made it past the Round of 16 since.

Beating the standard set in 2002 would first involve advancing past the group stage, the final member of which will be Turkey, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo depending on a playoff.

The United States is listed as No. 14 in FIFA's World Cup rankings, making them the top-ranked nation over Australia (No. 26), Paraguay (No. 39) and all four of the European contenders.

The USMNT also recently beat both Australia and Paraguay in friendly matchups back in October and November, respectively.

The United States arguably scored an early win by dodging some of the more difficult groups, unlike England and its Group L matchup with Croatia, or France's Group I pairings with Senegal and Norway.

Adams and his teammates will now look to take the first step toward the semifinals by finalizing a roster strong enough to make it out of Group D play when the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in North America next June.