As you would expect, the Gold Cup clash between the USA and Canada on July 18 was eagerly contested and fraught with tension. In the end, Shaquell Moore’s early goal was enough to separate the teams, although both would progress to the knockout phase of the competition.
The United States were widely expected to go deep into the international tournament thanks to the incredible improvements they have shown in soccer, both in the quality of players being produced and in the infrastructure that has been developed to fast-track them to the biggest club teams in the world.
🎥 Highlights: 🇺🇸 USA defeats 🇨🇦 Canada 1-0 and claims the top spot of Group B in #GoldCup21 #ThisIsOurs pic.twitter.com/pXAVP4iKb4
— Gold Cup (@GoldCup) July 18, 2021
Canada’s progress has been rather more surprising, not least because their star man Alphonso Davies stayed behind in Germany to nurse a long-standing ankle injury. But they too are benefitting from an improvement in the standard of Major League Soccer, and also a willingness on the part of some of Europe’s premier outfits to take a chance on signing youngsters from North America.
All of which is very interesting when we consider that the World Cup of 2026 will be hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico. By that point, the United States in particular will have a roster of extraordinary strength – even today, a huge number of their young stars are already on the books of some major operators in global soccer… not only that, they are breaking through into the first team ranks too.
A good pundit will always tell you that the secret to The art of how to bet online learning how to bet is to spot value opportunities as early as possible, and therefore you can lock in the best odds available, especially when it comes to up-and-coming teams like Canada. You’ll do well to find a sportsbook offering prices for World Cup 2026 as yet, but it pays to make your move as soon as possible – especially when free bets and bonuses are so readily available.
Conveyor Belt of Talent
It’s amazing to think of how many American players, and especially those under the age of 25, are currently educating themselves on the sport in some of the best leagues in the world.
Christian Pulisic is arguably the hottest property from the US conveyor belt of talent, and he has been joined in England by the likes of Zack Steffen, the number two goalkeeper behind Ederson at champions Manchester City, where Erik Palmer-Brown is also on the books. Cameron Carter-Vickers and Antonee Robinson (Fulham) have also tasted Premier League soccer, while Daryl Dike scored goals for fun in a productive spell at second-tier outfit Barnsley.
German teams have also been only too happy to take a chance on young Americans as well. John Brookes has been a stalwart at Wolfsburg for some time now, while the prodigiously-talented Chris Richards is maturing well at Hoffenheim. Tyler Adams and Giovanni Reyna, both regular starters at RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund respectively, are even further along in their development.
𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 14, 2021
🏃♂️ @sergino_dest pic.twitter.com/ftpFbcNwSO
Elsewhere, Sergiño Dest is experiencing what it’s like to play at one of the leading soccer franchises in the world at Barcelona, Konrad de la Fuente has left the Nou Camp for Marseille in France, and Weston McKennie (Juventus), Bryan Reynolds (Roma), Timothy Weah (Lille), Mark McKenzie (Genk) and Reggie Cannon (Boavista) are all ideally located to improve exponentially.
Canada, too, has a number of emerging stars in soccer’s leading continent for the club game, and so fans of the sport in North America have plenty to be excited about. No wonder they are eyeing the World Cup in 2026 with such excitement.
