The World Cup is coming home to North America in 2026, and Landon Donovan isn’t just watching from the sidelines. He’s teaming up with a coffee giant to fuel what he calls “the third half” of soccer fandom — and he’s not holding back on what the U.S. men’s national team still needs to prove.
Donovan, the all-time leading scorer for the USMNT and a man whose stoppage-time goal against Algeria in 2010 remains one of the most seismic moments in American soccer history, sat down exclusively with ClutchPoints at a Los Angeles event to break down his new partnership with Nescafé — but the conversation quickly turned into a no-holds-barred preview of the 2026 tournament. Insiders say this is the kind of candid, unfiltered analysis that could get fans buzzing for months.
“This summer is going to be quite literally the biggest sporting event in the history of the planet,” Donovan told ClutchPoints, his voice carrying the weight of someone who knows exactly what’s at stake. “It’s not just the games. It’s the time before, at halftime, and after. Connecting with people. That’s where Nescafé comes in.”
The former LA Galaxy star has joined forces with the world’s largest coffee brand for its “The Third Half” campaign, which drops limited-edition soccer-themed espresso kegs and brings Donovan and former Liverpool star Luis García into the fold. Sources close to the partnership say the campaign is designed to capture the global conversation that happens around the sport — something Donovan knows intimately.
Donovan didn’t shy away from the big predictions. When asked which nations could hoist the trophy in 2026, he didn’t hedge.
“I think Spain are the best team. France are the most talented group of players,” Donovan said. “There are teams like Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, England, Germany in that next tier. But I would be pretty surprised if Spain or France don’t win it.”
That’s a bold forecast that puts the U.S. squarely on the outside looking in — which is exactly the point he wants to make. According to Donovan, the USMNT doesn’t need to win the whole thing to earn respect. But they do need to become a team that people genuinely believe could win it.
“We don’t need to win a World Cup — of course that would be amazing — but we need to be one of those teams that people think could win it every time,” Donovan explained. “You look at Spain, France, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, England — you think, ‘Oh, they could win it.’ You don’t think that about the U.S. yet. We need to get to a place where we’re producing players capable of winning. Once we get there, with our resources, infrastructure, and athletic talent, we will win World Cups.”
That message is a direct challenge to U.S. Soccer and the development pipeline. Donovan pointed to the pay-to-play model that still plagues the grassroots level, calling it a barrier to finding the next generation of stars.
“There are a lot of us working hard to fix that. Soccer is an inclusive, easy game,” Donovan said. “You don’t have to be on a club team. I just played outside kicking a ball. We need to get back to that. Just go play.”
The conversation also veered into Donovan’s own legacy — not just the goal that changed everything, but the battles he fought off the field. His memoir, released in March, delves into his strained relationship with his father, his struggles with depression, and the loneliness of being a kid from a 900-square-foot home in Southern California who suddenly became the face of a sport.
“The comment I get almost as much as the 2010 goal is ‘Thank you for speaking openly about depression, your childhood, your dad,’” Donovan said. “People resonate with that. My story is unique, but it’s also common. A kid without a dad, a mom struggling to make ends meet. But there is a way out.”
Donovan says the most powerful part of his career hasn’t been the highlights — it’s been the moments when fans tell him they became soccer fans because of what he did on the field in 2010.
“I’ve been trying to grow this game forever,” he said. “When you provide a powerful moment that makes people fall in love with the sport? That’s the best.”
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