With 48 teams, three host nations, and a format that guarantees 32 sides go home after the group stage, the 2026 FIFA World Cup is shaping up to be unlike anything soccer has ever seen. But when Landon Donovan sat down to talk about it this week, he didn’t focus on logistics — he went straight to the hard truth about where the United States actually stands on the global soccer ladder.
Donovan, the all-time leading scorer for the U.S. men’s national team and the player with the most international caps in program history, joined ClutchPoints to promote his new partnership with Nescafe. Naturally, the conversation turned toward the 2026 tournament and whether the USMNT can finally be taken seriously in a field that keeps getting bigger.
Donovan’s Favorite to Win: Spain, Then Everyone Else
When asked which teams are the real contenders, Donovan didn’t mince words. “I think Spain are the best team,” he said. “France are the most talented group of players. There are some other teams on the periphery of that like Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, England, Germany, who are in that next tier, but I would be pretty surprised if Spain or France don’t win the tournament.”
Notice the U.S. isn’t on that list. That’s by design, according to Donovan. And he doesn’t think the team should be panicking about it — but he does think the goal needs to shift from chasing a single trophy to building a machine that produces contenders every four years.
‘We Don’t Need to Win a World Cup’ — Here’s Why
Donovan laid out a vision that might surprise fans who’ve spent years impatiently waiting for a deep run. “This is what I always say: We don’t need to win a World Cup,” he said. “Of course, that would be amazing, but we just need to be one of the teams I talked about in the beginning that are competing to win it every time.”
He pointed out how nations like Spain, France, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, and England enter every World Cup as legitimate threats. The U.S. doesn’t yet. “You don’t think, ‘oh the U.S. could win it,'” Donovan said bluntly. “So we want to get to a place where we’re producing players of quality that are capable of winning a World Cup. Once we get there, with all the resources, the infrastructure, the amount of people we have here, the athletic talent in this country, we will win World Cups, but we need to get to that point.”
An Early Good Sign for the U.S.
As if on cue, the current USMNT squad gave its supporters something tangible to feel good about. In their ongoing tournament opener against Paraguay, the Americans stormed to a 3-0 lead at halftime. It’s just one half of one match, but it’s the kind of start that keeps belief alive — even if Donovan’s long-term vision is about something much bigger than a single result.
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