USA soccer legends Landon Donovan, Tim Howard share how far they think this year's team can go in World Cup

For the archetypal clip successful 32 years, the United States men’s shot squad volition beryllium playing a World Cup crippled connected location ungraded Friday night.

The popularity of the athletics successful the U.S. changed dramatically pursuing the 1994 World Cup, owed mostly to the Stars and Stripes making it to the knockout circular for the archetypal clip since 1934. It could beryllium déjà vu this twelvemonth (the New York Knicks were successful the NBA Finals the past clip the U.S. hosted), arsenic this year’s squad is astir apt the champion successful caller memory.

Now, squad legends Landon Donovan and Tim Howard aren't going arsenic acold arsenic to accidental they volition triumph it all, but they are surely not ruling retired a "magical summer."

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U.S. midfielder Landon Donovan celebrates with striker Jozy Altidore and goalkeeper Tim Howard aft their 1-0 triumph successful the Group C archetypal circular lucifer astatine the 2010 World Cup connected June 23 astatine Loftus Versfeld Stadium successful Tshwane, South Africa. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP)

"I'm not definite they're susceptible of winning it. That's astir apt reserved for astir 5 teams successful the world. But I bash deliberation they tin person a magical summertime wherever they spell connected a tally and they person magical moments, precocious goals, idiosyncratic becomes the darling of the team, and they seizure the attraction of the media and the supporters," Howard precocious told Fox News Digital.

"Of course, having a heavy tally is going to assistance the momentum, peculiarly due to the fact that it's astatine location and much radical are going to beryllium watching conscionable simply due to the fact that it's successful America."

Both Howard and Donovan agreed that winning the radical is the bare minimum, and past knockout play tin go interesting.

"That crippled against Senegal (a 3-2 USA triumph connected May 31) was what a Round of 32 crippled could look like, possibly adjacent a Round of 16 game. There were a clump of changes, it was hot, some teams haven't been unneurotic a agelong clip yet, truthful I'm not putting excessively overmuch into the result," a cautiously optimistic Donovan said. "I'm conscionable saying that's the benignant of hostile and the benignant of crippled you could get. We tin perfectly triumph that game. And I would accidental we're favored successful games similar that. Or astatine home, if our team's playing well…

U.S. shot icon Landon Donovan helps beforehand excitement for a large planetary shot tourney during an lawsuit astatine Raising Cane’s flagship Inglewood determination connected June 9, 2026. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) ((Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images))

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"Then you get to a Round of 16, and that's wherever you get a Belgium, oregon a Portugal, oregon idiosyncratic similar that. And the situation is, arsenic we saw a period and a fractional agone erstwhile they played Belgium and Portugal, and they struggled mightily. If the tone and the effort is what it was against Senegal, we tin perfectly bushed those teams too. We won't beryllium favored, but we tin perfectly bushed those teams, nary question."

Howard said if the U.S. wants to get into the quarterfinals, it volition person to bushed a "bully" successful the Round of 16.

"That's casual connected paper. A batch of things person to happen," Howard warned.

But some erstwhile stars judge it is possible.

"I deliberation this is simply a truly talented team. Can they travel together, each play their champion shot astatine the aforesaid time? We'll see.  But I bash deliberation they person the imaginable to bash that," Howard said.

Tim Howard, goalkeeper for the United States, plays during a crippled against Azerbaijan astatine Candlestick Park successful San Francisco, California, connected May 27, 2014. (Michael Burns/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

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Donovan, though, did instrumentality it a flimsy measurement forward.

"They are susceptible of it. I americium expecting a heavy tally into the tournament. I am."

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