USA’s exit to Panama was embarrassing but the real story lies elsewhere

A below strength USMNT were upset in the Gold Cup. But the important developments are happening elsewhere as 2026 preparations step up

The Gold Cup, the biennial money-spinner for Concacaf, inspires a very different mood around the US men's national team compared with the World Cup. Superiority, not inferiority, dominates the conversation.

After all the hand-wringing from the inadequacies on display during the round-of-16 loss to the Netherlands in Qatar, here's a tournament that prompts fretting if the Americans don't win it every time, given their status as perennial hosts and the low caliber of most of their opponents.