*Early* 2026 World Cup Dark Horse PREDICTIONS

Underdogs are teams expected to lose. A dark horse is a underdog that you think will do better than expected.

That James Rodríguez rise of fame moment at the 2014 World Cup can be the time to shine for an attacking midfielder like Kendry Paez for Ecuador or Gio Reyna for the US. Also kinda interesting to see how James Rodríguez didn’t hold the consistency of being a world class player because the #10 position is a position that is kinda dead. Now coaches ask their attacking midfielder to defend. Similar struggle Gio Reyna faces. Also all these players play better for their national team. Very interesting similarities

No fire Gregg

The second we go against a good team in knockouts we're going out.

fire Beerholder now to give USMNT a fighting chance in WC2026

Underdog is those expected to lose based on talent. Dark horse is those that have the talent that are rated low but with talent to beat and compete against anyone on their best day.

Once the World Cup passes in 2026, the US will forget about soccer, just as it did after 1994

Tactical manager: USA will get to semifinals 😂😂😂

I agree with your 4 dark horse nations as of now.

What about Canada? Were very unlucky during the last WC, played better than Belgium, young talented squad, have already got the World Cup experience as opposed to last time and got home field advantage

brother i wish. but what's the last time we did well against a european team, tying england at wc 2022? only reason was because southgate's a moron, and we've got our own southgate with gregg berhalter. we have absolutely no ability to play better than the sum of our parts, and while we're better on paper than we've ever been, it never shows. losing 3-1 to germany while they're weaker than ever before? losing 2-1 to fucking Trinidad and Tobago? no way we perform at 2026, even with a homefield advantage. no crowd hype can overcome subpar strategy

Maybe a team that reaches the finals for the first time ever, or the first time in decades, taking advantage of the expansion?

What about Senegal?

We will be dark horses if we fired Gregg and a in-form Turner

My predictions for a darkhorse Nigeria after a golden gen forming slowly + plus veterans and Afcon run Japan already good but a golden gen also blooming Hot take Canada I feel bcuz there hosts and have a decent team Ecuador bcuz they are firing right now in qualifications even though having point deduction

And regarding Ecuador not being the host nation. Have you been to Ecuador friendlies in the US? Every time we play in Jersey, we paint that stadium yellow. Ecuador has about 200k Ecuadorian migrants just in the NYC area. Our second home is the US.

My Top 5 dark horses at the time I write this... 1. Japan - They really need to sort out their goalkeeper issues. When 🇯🇵 is at their best, they resemble 🇪🇸. 2. Senegal - In the "2023" AFCON group stage, outside of a 15 minute stretch in the third match 🇸🇳 were masterful. They were eliminated by the host nation 🇨🇮 via PKs. This team is more than Sadio Mane. 3. Ecuador - 🇪🇨 have a very good team. In the 2022 WC, they actually outplayed Holland but were only able to get a draw. I still can't get over the fact that in 2022 WC Qualifying they beat 🇨🇴 6-1! 4. Nigeria - 🇳🇬 were runners-up in the "2023" AFCON losing to hosts 🇨🇮 in the Finals. However, what was most impressive was they were generally well-organized defensively. Until the AFCON Finals, I believe they only allowed one goal in that tournament. Add to fact that Osimhen is a superstar at this point and we have a legitimate dark horse here. 5. USA - Only if Berhalter is no longer the coach.

It's just so disheartening. If we immediately get eliminated I believe there's zero chance GGG gets fired. They don't care about winning they only care about GGG. We're squandering the best collection of talent we've ever had. I'll still watch and I still want to win every match, every friendly, all of it, but I have zero faith in USS to do anything in our best interest. Apparently that makes me "toxic". What a joke.

Oh Kendry is double the player Plata ever was. The kid will blow up at Chelsea before the 26 WC

Nigeria Norway Sweden Ivory Coast Egypt Australia Venezuela Hungary are good shouts