It will be a busy summer for me come June and July. Why you ask? I am going to get obese with world class football and I am not ashamed of it!
Well, unless our Yanks perform dismally like our 1990 boys who embarrassed us just by being in the tournament. In FIFA Italia ’90 we didn’t win or draw any of our Group A matches and conceded 8 goals, the worst defeat was against Czechoslovakia 1–5. The Czechs made us look like little lost farm boys chasing and chasing and chasing… rabbits, chickens, and piglets. Oh it was so bad and it hurt, bad.
But today’s USMNT is by far and away superior to those nightmare squads of the 80’s early 90’s. We really hit the CONCACAF and world stage in Korea-Japan 2002, our best tournament to date advancing to the quarter-finals. There is much chatter around football analysts—at least here in the states—that this current U.S. national team is on track to matching or surpassing our heroic 2002 team. But first we must show we belong in FIFA’s top 10-15 world rankings in this summer’s Copa America. Let’s take a look.
Starting June 20 at 20:00 (GMT -4h) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia, the CONMEBOL Copa America kicks off with Argentina playing Canada. Austin, Dallas, and Houston, Texas will host matches with Dallas hosting two Group fixtures—Peru vs Chili and USA vs Bolivia—and one Quarter-final fixture.
Naturally, my two squads will be the USA and Brasil. My Canarinhos are seeded #2 in the tournament with champions Argentina seeded #1. Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid will have to fill the shoes of injured Neymar. After defeats last year to Uruguay, Colombia, and Argentina, Brasil was dipping from their decades long juggernaut perch. But this past March 23rd, Brasil showed against England they still belong in the top 5 of the world. Hopefully they can continue this momentum into Copa America and World Cup 2026. And England is no slouch! The 3-Lions were fantastic in the first 30-45 minutes.
Surprisingly the USMNT broke into the Copa America’s top five seeds at #4! The Yanks were drawn into Group C and will be highly tested in their last group fixture against Uruguay and should advance to the quarters in the next round. But they will face either Brasil or Colombia, not an easy task by any stretch. And it will be a baptism on hot coals for such a talented, but young squad who won’t see much ball-possession against either South American team. Thank the footballing gods the Yanks performed brilliantly against Mexico in the CONCACAF Nations League Final. They can carry hope from that three-peat championship title.
Now to the 2026 World Cup preview.
FIFA World Cup 2026
Yes, I am over the moon thrilled that my hometown Dallas, Texas will be hosting FIFA World Cup 2026 matches in June and July. Houston, Texas will also host some matches. The two major cities are 239 miles apart and approximately a 4-hour drive via I-45 barring heavy traffic or wrecks. In Canada, Toronto and Vancouver host. In Mexico, Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey host. And in the United States, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas of course, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle all host.
But wait, there’s more great news! Dallas will host 5 Group fixtures, 2 Round of 32 fixtures, 1 Round of 16 fixture, and 1 of the Semi-final fixtures. Dallas is hosting the most WC 2026 games of all host cities in all three countries. I am beyond euphoric!
Let me just quote from the FIFA World Cup 2026 website what they say about Dallas’ and North Texas’ footballing development over the last two decades:
FOCUS ON EMERGING TALENT
— fifa world cup 2026 website, accessed 3/24/2024.
With an impressively large youth football system, an incredible stadium, and experience hosting Super Bowls and numerous men’s and women’s national team matches over the past few years, Dallas is prepared for the FIFA World Cup™.
North Texas became home to the Dallas Burn in 1995, and played in its first game in front of 27,779 fans. In 2004, the team was renamed to FC Dallas. Today, the North Texas football community is one of the largest in the United States, with nearly 176,000 registered players.
The Dallas Cup, the largest international youth football event in the country [possibly the world], annually brings the world’s finest young players and more than 150,000 spectators to Dallas. Of special significance in the Dallas and North Texas’ history is the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA™, when six games were hosted, and FIFA placed its tournament headquarters and the IBC in Dallas.
I attended the Quarter-final between Holland versus Brasil in the Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas on July 9th, 1994. My girlfriend (at the time) and I sat smack in the middle of all the Brazilian fans dancing the samba, singing, and playing all their instruments. As we exited the stadium she was grinning ear-to-ear and simply said, “I have never had so much fun at a sporting event like I just experienced. And I’ve been to all major American sports,” meaning football, baseball, and basketball, “and none of them were in the same ballpark to that game!” I just laughed and said, I told you so. It truly is the Most Beautiful Game on the planet, especially when Brasil plays.
On that note, I have all ten fingers crossed and all ten toes semi-crossed 😉 that back in Dallas I will get to see my darlings, the USMNT Yanks and my yellow, blue, and green Canarinhos… Brasil. Lifetime memories right there. Can’t wait.
“Football-Soccer: The language the world speaks fluently.”
The Professor’s Convatorium © 2023 by Professor Taboo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
World's Most Beautiful Game 