USMNT star says World Cup final run is 'not ridiculous'

Zlatan Ibrahimović had American fans elated when he said Friday the USMNT has what it takes to win the 2026 World Cup. The U.S. players are feeling just as confident.

After the 2-0 win over Australia, defender Chris Richards admitted his team is eying what would be its first World Cup triumph on home soil. The farthest World Cup stage the U.S. has reached historically is the quarterfinals in 2002.

“I don’t think it’s ridiculous to say that we want to win it,” Richards said, per ESPN. “Obviously, we have a lot more games before we get to that moment, but you know, we take it one game at a time.”

The U.S. has opened the World Cup with convincing wins over Paraguay and Australia. With Türkiye falling to Paraguay last night, the U.S. clinched first place in Group D, thus advancing the team to the Round of 32.

It’s certainly within the realm of possibilities for the Americans to make a run, and what a story that’d be. Like Richards says, though, it’ll have to come one game at a time.

The U.S. will play Türkiye at 10 p.m. ET on Thursday.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: USMNT’s Chris Richards says World Cup final run is ‘not ridiculous’