Tim Howard reveals the benchmark Team USA should hit at the 2026 FIFA World Cup
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For Tim Howard, this year’s World Cup has come full circle.
Raised in central New Jersey and champion in his home country, the World Cup final will be held 35 miles from where the former United States national team goalkeeper grew up.
During the final bidding, Howard knew exactly where to play.
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Tim Howard of the United States makes a save during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 match against Belgium at Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, Brazil, on July 1, 2014. (Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)
“I’ve heard of Dallas, and I love Dallas. It’s great, it’s a great city, but I just said the World Cup finals can only ever be in one place and it should be in New York, New Jersey,” Howard told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
“I’ve never been to a World Cup final. I’ve never been to a World Cup final. I’m 47 years old, I’ve seen a World Cup final on TV. So, you know, being in New York in the middle of it, it’s crazy to think about it. It’s a tight space.”
Howard has never been to the finals of the World Cup, because his USA teams have never reached one. In fact, no USA team has ever won. And Howard doesn’t expect him to either.
But there is a path that this year’s team must reach so that the World Cup is not considered a failure for the Stars and Stripes.
Tim Howard, goalkeeper of the United States, plays during the match against Azerbaijan at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California, on May 27, 2014. (Photos by Michael Burns/ISI/Getty Images)
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“I think we beat the team, and we should win the team. So, start there,” Howard began. The USA is the top ranked team in a group that includes Australia, Paraguay and Turkey.
“I think if you win a team and finish first, in the Round of 32 you’ll get the third-placed team, which hopefully as we start to move down the ladder, shouldn’t be better than whatever team you just beat in the playoffs, right?”
From then on, it’s house money, Howard said.
“And then I think, if my calculations are correct, in the Round of 16 they will need to roll up their sleeves and decorate the bully, the top 10 team in the world, right? But that’s the way it should be. And if they do that, a top-10, top-20 team, then they find themselves in the quarterfinals,” he said.
“Now, that’s easy on paper. There’s a lot of things that have to happen. I think this is a really talented team. Can they come together, all play their best football at the same time? We’ll see. But I think they have the ability to do that.”
Howard hopes the team will go a long way, which could give the uniforms more cleanup. Howard knows all that as a lifelong athlete who continues to live a healthy lifestyle and has partnered with Lysol ahead of this year’s World Cup.
“I’m not on the field anymore, but I know that after a long game, practice, workout, whatever, my clothes smell. I also know that Lysol Laundry Sanitizer is the way to go,” he said. “It kills 99.9% of odor-causing bacteria in laundry. So, it’s as natural as you can imagine for all the sweat and work I’ve done.”
If Team USA’s tournament doesn’t go as planned, however, there is a silver lining, Howard said.
United States goalkeeper Tim Howard stands on the field before the CONCACAF Gold Cup final against Jamaica at Levi’s Stadium on July 26, 2017. (Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports)
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“If the United States Men’s National Team has a painful shortcoming and fails and doesn’t make it out of the team, soccer won’t go back in this country. It won’t,” he said. “People will be disappointed but money, infrastructure and support will still be there.
“They will be hungry for success.”
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