Stephen A. Smith & Taylor Twellman ANIMATED in USMNT debate 🍿 | First Take

[@grayknight836]

Thank you Taylor Twellman for representing our country 🇺🇸 and the sport ⚽️ we love with passion 💪🏻 and proper understanding! 👍🏻

[@fadethechannel]

Stephen A, we don’t gauge soccer success the same as basketball and football. You can advance with draws. You don’t have to score 10 goals 🙄😂

[@machelpeters2170]

Lol this was why he admitted he can't debate football ( not soccer) with Taylor 👀🤷🏾‍♂️

[@Slo-ryde]

Which is why soccer people should not even bother debating main stream sports pundits…..it’s pointless!

[@stopcampin4097]

@@machelpeters2170 It’s soccer

[@NLGabriel75]

@@stopcampin4097 let’s all come to the agreement and call it Socball 😈👍

[@lorenzodemedici6332]

@@NLGabriel75 For now, until we beat England in 4 years.

[@danijelsan81]

This felt like an argument against the whole sport and not just whether the USMNT has achieved success. It’s frankly sad. When will the US finally drop the whining about football being too slow, not enough goals, draws shouldn’t be allowed, it’s a wuss game, etc. Guys, it’s by far the most beloved and competitive game globally. Your team just earned a place among the last 16 nations in the world without really being seriously threatened by anyone else in the group. They played mature football (sorry, that’s the English name of this game) and have earned success. All the best going forward USMNT!

[@ozukabeats2456]

nfl owns these networks and will try to control the retorik soccer is the only sport in America that is a genuine threat to the NFL i n the distant future

[@Thenny773]

Thanks

[@josecenteno08]

The percentage of ignorant Americans that think like this is slowly declining as football is getting more and more popular in the states. We have the best woman’s team in the world (although I don’t think that’ll last forever), and our men’s team is one win away from the quarterfinals (I know we have a tough matchup). As a nation, you can’t achieve this if Americans dislike football as a whole. Younger generations will grow up playing the game and watching USMNT/USWNT, and older people (like Stephen A.) will be out of the door.

[@LeBum_James_]

Cheers brotha 🍻

[@GeminiFate]

Football (NFL) is so big for a good reason though. It's still my sport of choice, but people can enjoy many sports. And besides, many are fed up with the NFL, so it's a good chance to get some people interested in Soccer. Either way, I'll root for any sport where the players give it their all and are passionate.

[@williammoxon4654]

Sounds like Stephen A expecting USA to be winning 27-14 or something 😭 Iran and Wales are tough teams and as an Englishman, the US were way better that game. This is an unbelievable success for the US and will be even more dangerous next tournament. Think Stephen A and Mad dog need to realise scoring goals is the hardest thing to do in football (soccer)

[@stopcampin4097]

Soccer*

[@NEGUS_ELITE]

yeah, people who don't know ball think it's embarrassing to not beat wales, but they are a good team. only 3 ranks below the usa.

[@yamatotakeru9078]

GO USA!!!!

[@Mark_Ellzy]

Ppl don’t really understand how hard it is to score goals. What I would have to explain to Stephen A is that soccer ain’t the same as American football and basketball in that just because u don’t score a lot doesn’t mean ur offense is not good.

[@keitht24]

@@Mark_Ellzy We understand it, we just don't find it exciting to watch the sport.

[@calvinfielding6372]

Bro been waiting on this moment all his life to debate & SAS not even trynna debate him 😂😂😂😂

[@joseywales148]

How could he debate him when he knows Nothing about soccer. Shame on ESPN for not having someone knowledgeable on the sport… but of course ESPN doesn’t have knowledgeable viewers…ESPN is a clown show, it’s become a laughing stock organization

[@keitht24]

Because they got forced to do this segment. The First take crew knows Americans don't care about soccer.

[@Ff101891]

Happy to see World Cup content on First Take!

[@joseywales148]

Why, they know Nothing about soccer…

[@HR-ms6ed]

@@joseywales148 so why are u here ?🤔

[@joseywales148]

@@HR-ms6ed I’m a Chris Russo fan- he’s the only person that is a well rounded sports commentator

[@RApollos107]

Every reaction and measurement of success in the World Cup for the US should be made with the consideration that WE WEREN’T EVEN IN THE WORLD CUP 4 YEARS AGO! Also, loved watching Taylor shred Stephen and Chris for their bad takes on this.

[@dawidmalan8727]

Netherlands weren't either and their success is measured on whether or not they qualify for the last 8. This achievement is neither a success or a failiure, its the bare minimum and the expectation. Statistically we were better than 2 teams even by FIFA estimates. If this was 2014 where we had Germany and Portugal in the group, then yes this would 100% be a success. We should not overreact to this an let this team or the coach off the hook. We need to beat the Dutch for this world cup to be called a success. I don't care if we have youth. France was one of the youngest teams in 2018 and they won the whole thing. Youth doesn't matter because ultimately athleticism and fearlessness balance out with the experience one gets from an older team.

[@kylewatson4900]

Nah bruh, that was embarrassing....Nobody sees that as a positive....

[@yamatotakeru9078]

GO USA!!!

[@jaytheactivist8520]

@@dawidmalan8727 we do not have the history the Dutch have to compare our success to theirs

[@donleonard4446]

@@dawidmalan8727 firstly the Dutch have WAY better quality than is not to mention the rich history they hand in the past not too long ago they had a golden generation they a prime spot for talent in soccer since it is their number one sport

[@fadethechannel]

That match was INTENSE. I think I stood for 80% of the match lol

[@llamayt3832]

It was unnecessarily intense due to GGG deciding to bunker the majority of the 2nd half to a team they were in control of.

[@PlayBoi3x]

That’s football, the greatest sport on earth

[@cerjc4566]

I dont think I sat down after the goal. Nice win but need to score more while we're playing well

[@pickupgames2995]

They're right tbh

[@arsenioseslpodcast3143]

@@llamayt3832 thAT'S THE USA mentality!!!

[@soleil3gs]

It's absolutely is a success, they made it passed the group phase. They didn't get smoke by England and they're one of the 16 teams left. 100% success. The US does not dominate soccer like they do in basketball for example, different standards for different sports.

[@yamatotakeru9078]

GO USA!!!!

[@keitht24]

As an American, we don't celebrate mediocre performances in sports.

[@AW-zk5qb]

Imagine if soccer/football were the top sport in the US from the beginning (late 1800s) and the US had a proper soccer/football culture like almost every other country in the world does. The US would have won multiple World Cups by now

[@petermulinzi1288]

@@msuspartans5139 but again england bottled that one But I'm really surprised how ignorant americans are about ⚽

[@drew4564]

Ain't no more draws now have to win

[@aztronomy7457]

I’ve watched the USMNT since 1994. Here’s why we should be excited: Typically we have 0 ball control. We might have 1/2 decent forwards and an ok goalie. We used to have to do a big goal kick up the field and hope the ball miraculously ends up in an attackers hands, only for it to go right to the other team every time. Other than that, whoever we played always had superior touch and out controlled us. We would have to get real lucky to score. This is the FIRST time I’ve ever seen the US play with control and touch. Ever. We move the ball well, dribble effectively, and have a lot of skilled players on major European clubs. We’ve made progress and it shows. I have to pinch myself seeing the US work the ball up the field like an effective world class team. This WC is the first time I’ve seen the US look like a real effective contending squad.

[@sulwhale3171]

2026 might be different

[@SWalkerTTU]

@@sulwhale3171 This crew will have four more years under their belts and will be playing at home. It will definitely be different.

[@Azabaxe80]

First time you've seen the US play control ball? Really? I doubt you've been watching closely, but welcome to the party anyway.

[@aztronomy7457]

@@Azabaxe80 Name another world cup where we consistently controlled and moved the ball from goalie --> defender --> midfielder --> attack. Usually its Tim Howard booting it.

[@Azabaxe80]

@@aztronomy7457 I'm not going to belabor this point. I'm just going to repeat my welcome to the party. Keep supporting the US.

[@peterkelso6009]

Man Taylor handled that so well. Didn't allow the words to be put in his mouth and gave a very good perspective on how to be cautiosly optimistic about the performance.

[@rtads11]

To not qualifying for the last WC to making it to the round of 16 in the next one, that’s definitely a success for the US

[@garygorny]

If Italy flames out in the Round of 16 at the next World Cup, were they "successful"?

[@blobber51]

@@garygorny ye

[@notoriouseagle1074]

@@garygorny It depends. If they wind up in a group of death, survive it, and fall to a fellow heavyweight, that's tolerable.

[@znhait]

@@notoriouseagle1074 They're not going to be in a group of death as a seeded team in a tournament with 16 groups of three. If they get unlucky, they might get a group of Czech Republic and Uruguay, with two making it to the round of 32.

[@Itsyourboy_ray]

Usa are decades behind Europe. Football is engraved in the hearts of us Europeans long before the birth of USA and its something you lot can't comprehend or ever understand simply because you aren't European. Netherlands isn't even top 5 in Europe compared to England Spain Portugal Italy France Germany in their knockout mentality

[@estonwhite23]

We as Americans love offense so much and we struggle so hard to understand that the definition of great gamesmanship isn’t necessarily defined by the big numbers on the scoreboard at the end of the game

[@TheStatisfiedOne]

The whole problem is that they only look at stats. But USA could’ve scored more goals in all 3 matches. Just bad finishing and bad luck.

[@kedarragbar8443]

So true ,u are wise .Its the process within and result achieved.Whether its a victory by one goal,OR 6 the end result is comparative .A tie 0-0 ,5-5 .points shared .Unlike American sports These factors makes football unique .And then like playoffs .Its knockout time Win your are in ,loose u go back home

[@barrowmanbarrowman224]

Offense play is good. The US needs to finish their chances better. Soccer goals you can compare like sinking an enemy battleship. After hard work finally a reward to sinking that enemy battleship.

[@kaitsu1952]

@@brandonmijdam7721 lmao, the handegg cerial bowl, where the half time show is more hyped than the game itself. And the game itself is played 1 minute per every 5 minutes of advertisements lmao. And during that 1 minute a bunch of meatheads collide with each other and gain a couple of *meters* of ground every possession. Talk about the US local cerial bowl being bigger than the WORLD CUP of the biggest sport in the world.

[@Aznjerrick]

USMNT, futbol, soccer, football on first take? I can't believe it

[@stopcampin4097]

They cover football everyday dude they don’t cover soccer

[@karanvinod2593]

@@stopcampin4097 playing with your hand ain’t football, pal. Hope this helps

[@stopcampin4097]

@@karanvinod2593 soccer vato cry bout it hope that helps

[@DiegoLearns]

Stephen A if you are reading this, please start following soccer more!!! It is the global game that the world loves so much. I bet you would enjoy it if you gave it more of a chance 🙏

[@Slo-ryde]

He said he is a busy man and does not have the time!

[@2Manchester]

Actually he got his start as sports writer as Football ⚽ writer for a college team.

[@andrewpaschall8992]

He's an idiot who knows nothing about anything, I doubt he really follows any sport

[@andrewagbedor2343]

Did i just hear the USMNT team being called as a Franchise?😂😂😂😂😂

[@roberttyner5809]

Their ignorance was full display. They should stick to sports they have a clue about. Stephen A once referred to FIFA as the F-I-F-A in an old interview with Alexi Lalas. 😂

[@walterzarate4674]

Definitely a different way to measure success in world cup play compared to the sports Stephen A. usually talks about

[@linsnow]

Foh 😂

[@SWalkerTTU]

They always talk about teams making the playoffs. In the NBA and NHL, slightly less than half the teams make the playoffs. Here, the US made the playoffs, where exactly half the teams advanced.

[@tombriggs637]

@@SWalkerTTU fr he should’ve framed it like that

[@jsahkljdhkashvbosild]

The US has struggled with scoring - but a dominant midfield and good defense will allow the US to hang with better teams. An upset of Holland would be a big success!

[@rasiel957]

Honestly speaking I would not be surprised if the beat Netherlands. They haven't impressed me like Spain and Brazil have.

[@TheStatisfiedOne]

Iam Dutch myself and I can easily say that this Dutch team is very beatable compared to the teams we had years ago. We are a little bit better overal but the difference is much smaller then people think

[@sumedhgarimella6024]

It's absolutely a success. Back to where we belong. Netherlands is not impossible to beat so we can even go further and exceed our wildest dreams, but even if we lose, a good world cup and they've made us proud.

[@Jkev24]

It's a good foundation for us to build off of given we are the 2nd youngest team in the tournament. Honestly, the only thing truly missing that takes us from a tough out to a dark horse (there is a lot that needs to occur for us to be a favorite) is a competent striker. If we had a prime Jozy Altidore on this team, we're in that same tier as the Netherlands. Our starting 11 all plays in Europe, our midfield has shown they can control large portions of a game (we honestly looked to have the best midfield in our group when we don't have to make subs... depth is still an issue, but the starting midfield is a cohesive force), and our defense is pretty solid (really only 1 giant error this WC so far and a few minor ones that even the best back lines make from time to time). I'm really hoping there's a 16-18 year old striker out there that is watching this world cup and realizes he can be the missing piece to this US soccer puzzle that completes us from top to bottom by the time the next WC rolls around. Like if we're being honest here, when it comes to size and athleticism, we produce a ton of Haalands in the US. Like there's a dozen every year just in college between basketball and american football, let alone counting our professional leagues. If one of those kids can develop even half the technical talent Haaland has (so I guess I'm describing a slightly bigger Altidore lol) we would be in a great position to crack the top 10 in the world.

[@pacman7687]

@@Jkev24 bro, Josy Altidore definitely wouldn't put your team on the level of the Netherlands. They have Gakpo, Van Dijk, Ake, Depay etc etc Any one of those guys I've mentioned would automatically be the US's best player. It's a great achievement, but don't go overboard.

[@Jkev24]

@@pacman7687 our midfield is cohesive enough to go toe to toe with any team right now and our back line is playing really well. It's a "The team is better than the sum of their individual parts" situation. The only true weakness is striker. The Netherlands are for sure more talented, but honestly they aren't playing to the level you'd expect from said talent

[@pacman7687]

@@Jkev24 agreed that you look like a better side than expected and that the dutch have been underwhelming...but mate, Frenkie De Jong v Tyler Adams isn't even a contest. It wouldn't go toe to toe with any team, the spanish would pass around you for fun, so would the french and but for Southgate being more defensive than a padlock, England would have too. You've been great, but chill.

[@Jkev24]

@@pacman7687 well I guess we'll just have to wait and see for this Saturday to see who's right.

[@inlivingcolor...abroad6099]

Mad Dog called them a “franchise” 😂😂😂

[@dragonclaw445]

for me as a brazilian i'm really impress by usmnt..they are playing good and they may be no the favs against netherlands but they have chance and even if they lose usmnt's younger talents will improve a lot for the next tournanment....hope ppl realise how hard is to get out of the groups...just look germany, belgium etc.

[@NeilLewis77]

As an England fan we have spent the last 60 years putting all out time, money, effort, hopes and dreams into getting back to a second world cup final. As our number one national sport it's very important. But we still haven't reached a second final since 1966, because world cups are the hardest thing to win in all sports. It's held only once every four years and just qualifying for one is incredibly hard. For a country like America, where it's best young athletes are sucked up into NBA and NFL, to be one of the world's best 16 teams is an enormous success. Obviously.

[@DaddyGamerDiaries]

Absolutely a success at this point. On October 10, 2017, the US lost to TRINIDAD & TOBAGO in front of a paltry crowd of 1,500 people ... that eliminated them from qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The only starter from that team who has started for the current team is Christian Pulisic. The only other starter from that team to even make this year's World Cup Team is Deandre Yedlin, who did earn some minutes as a substitute. This is a completely new team and their new players are impressive. Also, who cares how many goals they've scored, you don't advance based on goals. You advance based on points earned in the match. That would be like saying a basketball team's advancement to the playoffs was not a success because they had such few three-point baskets and instead won their games through tough defense and interior buckets. Did you know which country scored the most goals in CONCACAF Qualifying for the 2018 World Cup? It was THE UNITED STATES with 17 goals. And they didn't qualify for the World Cup because that defense sucked total @$$. This defense held England to ZERO goals. The same England that scored 9 goals in its other two games. Congratulations to the USMNT for this amazing success - and best of luck to these incredibly talented young players who are making me proud and believe that sooner rather than later we'll be considered seriously by football fans from other countries. Guys like Dest, Weah, McKinnie, Sargent, Aaronson all stepped up after Pulisic had to be replaced due to HAVING HIS NUT SACKED SHREDDED.

[@SmilesPerGallon-]

Yes, great points. I wouldn’t have expected our D to be so solid, but it’s hard to argue GBs game plan has worked. You can’t lose if you don’t concede, which is especially true in the knockout rounds. We always knew this team is lacking a dominant striker so we’re playing a strategy based around our personnel, and it’s worked so far.

[@AbelAraya]

Taylor Twellman is the epitome of what is great about global commentary on the world game of football, and I'm so happy he schooled these two pundits on the sport. SAS and Mad Dog are 100% casuals who don't know a lick about the sport and are predicated on the fact that only scoring determines the success of your team, and they don't understand that you have to DEFEND in order to win.

[@cyroos4926]

I think it’s been pretty good for the US, got out of the group and in a winner take all setting anything can happen

[@mrblondie]

Perfect example of why the non-soccer sports media shrug their shoulders or give faint praise to the US success to date. Their lack of understanding of the game around the world. Funny, because some of our best athletes in American football and basketball know more about the world's game then our sports media. We could win the WC and they'd still find something uncomplimentary to say. But thanks to Taylor for fighting the good fight.

[@omaryanez8999]

Thank you Taylor for helping educating our people on fútbol!!!! ⚽️

[@bidyutbiswas4588]

Yes 😂he did .

[@1dering11]

Pick a language lol

[@luislozano9328]

FINALLY WE GETTING COVERAGE 🙌🏼 🙏🏼

[@babarazamsucks]

Yeah that too with these two f***heads for Taylor Twellman to deal with.

[@focusednba2245]

Ayo espn. This Taylor Twellman guy is a clear star. It appears like he covers soccer on sport Center, I’m sure he follows all sports; if he can debate, have this man on first take.

[@mycoshe]

Good lord! He was a football (eh... Soccer) player for crying out loud !!!!

[@juliobijan9354]

Yep he schooled them.

[@trivialqed]

Spain's 2010 path to winning the World Cup: Spain 1-0 Portugal Spain 1-0 Paraguay Spain 1-0 Germany Spain 1-0 Netherlands Its not about how many goals u score

[@MrWolfy08]

just watch EURO 2016 Portugal Journey

[@themasterzman1172]

Struggling to score goals is a Striker problem which is team USA's weakness, but at the same time they've only allowed 1 goal and it was on a penalty kick

[@znhait]

Scoring goals is usually not a striker problem; it's usually a chance creation problem. I can think of McKennie skying a good chance against England, but how many times did a U.S. player go through on goal with only the goalkeeper to beat?

[@KobiFC]

@@znhait You hit the nail on the head. It's usually chance creation that determines if goals are scored or not

[@jonathanchang5206]

stephen a talking football, that's jokes

[@fadethechannel]

He’s talking soccer, not football.

[@edryancalderon8062]

@@fadethechannel everyone in the world calls it football lol, get with the program

[@Cloudcity20]

@@edryancalderon8062 no lmao he can say soccer if he wants,don't get ur feelings hurt

[@chillvibes2176]

@@edryancalderon8062 soccer

[@stopcampin4097]

@@edryancalderon8062 soccer

[@robpeterson8006]

The US is ranked 16th in the world and are into the round of 16. This is where they should be every WC. It's a great start to build on

[@arrobarodri]

I'm Argentinian and i can tell you USMNT it's a good team very young i can see a bright future the same for Canada. advance to B16 it's harder even for teams like Croatia, Germany or my country!! you can definitely win against Netherlands best wishes cheers!

[@arsenioseslpodcast3143]

You better be extra careful with Aussie. I still remember that Saudi loss lol

[@holly_wood26]

SAS and Mad Dog really know nothing about soccer (and truthfully not much about other sports too. Always bringing back the days or Jordan and Micky Mantle.) Thank you Taylor! We appreciate you.

[@Itsyourboy_ray]

Usa are decades behind Europe. Football is engraved in the hearts of us Europeans long before the birth of USA and its something you lot can't comprehend or ever understand simply because you aren't European. Netherlands isn't even top 5 in Europe compared to England Spain Portugal Italy France Germany in their knockout mentality

[@endacoughlan2670]

I’m not from the USA but I’ve been watching soccer/football and World Cups since the 80’s. This team have shown a marked improvement in ball control, possession and movement compared to previous USA teams from what I’ve seen. I wouldn’t count this as a successful campaign just yet but I’m seeing progress and improvement already. The lack of goal scoring talent is an obvious deficiency in the team but if the rest of the team can stay solid they can still progress. However, Nederlands have shown good form so far and it’s do or die now so they won’t have the comfort of playing for a draw like England did.

[@Minifliek]

What Netherlands side have you been watching? The Netherlands side has scraped through their group whilst being in awful form.

[@captaintosen23]

@@Minifliek bs

[@Minifliek]

@@captaintosen23 They have been solid at the back cause they probably have one of the best defences in the World cup, but they have barely created any chances in their first 3 matches. They have been playing slow and sloppy on the ball. They should have lost against Ecuador since they played a lot better than the Netherlands in their match. Won against Senegal cause Mendy looked very poor in that match. Even the first half vs the USA they didn't play well but where very clinical in their finishing. So sure its a good team but their form has been pretty bad this World Cup. USA got outplayed tactically not physically or technically, they where very naïve and gave away ridiculous amounts of space for the Netherlands to exploit and they did.

[@kcuba1228]

The defending is still embarrassingly bad.

[@Jbar0894]

I can literally rattle off 5 reasons why this is significant: 1) we have virtually no World Cup experience and have one of the youngest teams in the entire World Cup and didn’t lose a game. This is just the beginning. I think we get even better the next World Cup. 2) it’s the same reason as one but we qualified to the round of 16 3) This keeps on growing a whole new generation of soccer fans in the US and this will continue to fuel its momentum as being one of the bigger sports in the US 4) directly ties to 3… soccer is not the major sport of the US, it may be in other countries but it is either 4 or 5 in the us (behind American football, basketball, baseball, and the nhl) and we still perform this well on the highest stage. 5) We are the only team from our conference to make the round of 16 and we are the youngest.

[@alfieb6711]

looking at this as someone from the UK it’s funny Stephen A don’t have a clue😂it was a success for US as they had England in the group they was never gonna top it they went unbeaten in the group and went through that’s job well done❤all tht counts is the result

[@Chris-kf8mx]

Reaching the round of 16 is great first step and should have been expected…if they beat Netherlands, this WC can be called a “success”. I think. Only because this team is so young and up and coming. 4 years from now they need to at least make the semifinals or beyond to call it a successful WC.

[@ryanotterholt458]

Exactly, you can say that the group stage was success because we advanced, but you cannot yet call the entire World Cup performance a success.

[@MrTobytherat]

For success or progression of this sport as a nation, we should look into how many times we make it into the quarterfinals since these guys talked about making it to the quarterfinals as the best result of the USMNT. Of the 7 completed world cups with the 32 team format (1998-2018) there are only 4 teams that has made it to the quarterfinals over 50% of the time. Brazil (6/7), Germany (5/7), Argentina (4/7) and France (4/7). Only 3 out of these 4 teams have won the world cup during that time period but they all give themselves a good chance most of the time. Right now, USA and 12 other teams have made it to the quarter finals once with either a miracle run or with some very good players during that time period(some might term it the golden age or whatever) or both. But the top teams, there are no golden age or good runs. they win with different teams and different players consistently. When US gets to that level, then we can call ourselves successful in being a top soccer nation. Now the success is getting out of the group stage and i will be watching the round of 16 hoping for success there.

[@joefagersten9677]

This take makes it abundantly clear that those two have very little knowledge of soccer. 😂

[@TheStatisfiedOne]

The whole problem is that this guys only look at stats, but the USA could’ve easily scored more goals in the group stages

[@juanrobbie3172]

Inlike taylor hes way better than lalas..he speaks facts and he is more grounded

[@ramcruz7532]

Its not easy to score a goal in Football. This ain't basketball or American football. Its not about the goals. Its about getting points in the group and advancing and they did. This is a success for the U.S.

[@jerrycc9335]

For a sports talk show not to cover the sport is a disgrace. Shout out to the US national soccer team. You guys have defied odds. And you guys are sooooooo young!!!! The future looks great!!!

[@steveithn9372]

I literally followed the USMNT on Instagram for them making through to the R16, and also Mexico not making out the group as well. People don’t get how young this US team was this World Cup, there was no Dempsey, Bradley, Howard, Altidore, Jones. All they had were young players like Mckennie, Pulisic, Weah, Reyna, Robinson, Musah. The US did a great job with little experience of a team like this, and it’s gonna hopefully be a great time in 2026 with these players.

[@AustinPowerz817]

Get em taylor! Casuals are clueless lmaoo

[@diegolara4202]

they could have scored 9 goals and still lost all 3 games and that would have been a failure. 2 Tied Games and 1 Win is enough to get out of the group stage. Every team in the world cup is simply trying to get out of the group stage and it doesn't matter if its by scoring 10 goals or 1 goal. There is a saying in soccer, if you win 1-0 or 3-0 its the same thing.

[@LiosWorld1]

Espn needs to start covering more of the world series

[@arsenioseslpodcast3143]

lmfaooo jesus, they were bad at that? ESPN should just stick to the main two and that' it. These bozos don't even know about college sports. It's cowboys, james, durant, etc

[@albertmorales3233]

This just goes to show that Stephen A. & Mad Dog had NO clue what they were talking about, let alone how to address the sport itself. They don’t understand how difficult & unpredictable it is to make it out of the group stage. That’s the beauty of the World Cup! “I don’t get to watch too much soccer… I’m a busy man.” How are you not WATCHING the World Cup right now?! Is this the best USMNT roster? No. But this is, by far, the most competitive roster. The Wales game got away from us; Zimmerman made a silly, unnecessary tackle in the box. We went toe-to-toe w/ England; created much more quality scoring opportunities, but, unfortunately, didn’t find the back of the net. Lastly (but not least), we took care of business against Iran; we clearly WANTED it. I just don’t speak for myself but for all 🇺🇸 fans, going into this WC, I wasn’t exactly confident after a scoreless draw against Saudi Arabia & a crushing loss to Japan (2-0). I’d say most Americans were worried (including myself) we weren’t going to make it out of the group, but here we are playing on Saturday against the 🇳🇱.

[@DL_1987]

The success so far is not the advancing, it’s the point they tied at top 10 in the world team which put them in the position to advance to the next round. They played outstanding defense in that game.

[@matthewdoliveira9421]

No disrespect to Americans but I don't think USMNT will ever dominate the football world

[@parrettgost]

Taylor Twellman spitting facts for once my god

[@pacman7687]

As an Englishman, watching these guys talk about "Soccer" is painful Stephen A is clueless, the US team making it out the group stage is a success 100%. Compared to the other teams that have got to the knockout stage, the US team is pretty weak, so to make it out is definitely a good achievement. Stick to screaming about Lebron, Stephen A.

[@nefthalhysalum165]

Absolutely a success it’s like we forgot that the USA didn’t make it to the 2018 World Cup, since then they’ve came a long way. They played extremely well vs England, and vs Iran they fought till very end and earned that win. To make it past the group stage after not making the 2018 World Cup , yes it’s an absolute success.

[@Russ88]

Lmao at least they talking about something different BUT most of y’all gonna complain anyway. They brought on someone that KNOWS the Sport. Smfh. This is WORLD CUP season. It happens every 4 years. Get use to it. This is important in sports. In addition, Netherlands are spooky and not for games…

[@Kchism10]

Stephen A and Mad Dog should never talk about soccer again. They clearly have no idea what they’re talking about. Just stick to basketball and Football guys

[@giancarlocolageomilea535]

7 minutes of my life I’ll never get back

[@Am1424]

It should be against the law to let SAS talk about anything soccer or ufc related

[@86MarcusP]

I am impress by Team USA, major upgrade since the Coby Jones, Alexis Lalas, Brad Friedel and Landon Donovan days 👏🏽👏🏽🍺

[@miguel28449]

They need to keep talking about the World Cup

[@TheGamingRepublic]

It’s definitely a success. If you look at where this mens team was 4 years ago, we missed the World Cup and it looked like they were in shambles. We drawed with wales, went toe to toe with England, and beat Iran and make it to the knockout stage. Remember this is like the 2nd youngest team at the World Cup and a team who are not experienced on a world stage like this. This is pretty much what you could’ve asked for, for this team.

[@sulwhale3171]

To be fair the 2018 team that won was also very very young

[@monsak5078]

They talked about goals scored but did they forget we also only conceded 1 goal and it was a penalty

[@rmyikzelf5604]

They didn't actually. But the screaming was so distracting, that your brain chose to ignore everything after the first 30 seconds

[@McYates24]

SAS shouldn't be allowed to talk football (soccer) lmao

[@willh69]

Great take, Taylor did an awesome job making his point

[@AmiHoss66]

there are currently approx 195 countries in The World. Of that number the vast majority are soccer fans and vied for a place in The World Cup ( USA coming through the CONCECAF group of approx 45 countries over a hard fought 4 year period ), Then to get to QATAR and make it out of the group stages by scoring 1 goal then defending like their lives were on the line in order to enable them into the knock out stages of the final 16 countries, is a success , Believe me

[@jlransom12]

I apologize to Taylor for wasting his time on these two

[@kgrkid]

He CHOSE to do this, nobody forced him to, stupid!

[@hoagied3783]

The last World Cup we played in… Italy, Spain, England and Portugal all failed to get out of their group. This should have been Taylor’s argument. Every tournament, multiple big teams are eliminated in the group stage. It’s huge to qualify for the next round, especially for a young team like ours. In 4 of the last 5 world cups, the defending champion failed to make it this far. This sport is not the same as basketball.

[@jonmartin9732]

People talking about football who have no clue about football

[@asinc79]

Haven’t watched these kinds of sports talk shows in a decade. Life is great, join me. American sports media is a clown show.

[@shuntoomi2465]

How does nobody talk about the tie against England?? That was incredible!

[@Klako-ls6yt]

Good teams fall in the group stage all the time. Denmark is the 10th ranked team on the FIFA rankings, and they're out at the bottom of their group. Also when you look at our group, it was not an easy one to get out of. USA, Wales, and Iran are #16, #19, and #20 with England being ahead at #5 on the FIFA rankings. Aside from England, this group was very evenly matched. Grinding out results against opponents of this caliber and getting out of the group is an accomplishment for this team, and a success worth celebrating. It's also huge for this young team to get this experience, and come out of it a little more battle-tested. Hoping now that we can rubber-stamp it with an upset against the Dutch.

[@DannyCosmos]

mexico didnt make it out of the group and they do it every 4 years..

[@Ononesince81]

There group wasnt easy ! Every game is competitive ! Every team in US group was TOP 20 in the world ! Outta 4 on 2 move on its a win so far !

[@bcr1103]

Advancing to the next stage is success.

[@GCohen9782]

Taylor destroying Stephen A and Russo is the best thing I’ve seen today.

[@arturocolin2292]

I started to follow soccer last year because a buddy of mine bet me I couldn't watch a whole game. So i watched the european champions league semifinals, and I gotta tell you, the matches in tbe knock-out stages are wild. They go down the wire.

[@jsport1089]

These two pundits are looking at this accomplishment from the perspective of the average American, who are not into Soccer and who don't understand the game from a nuanced level. Twellman is a Soccer minded guy and a former US soccer player, so of course he can explain everything there is to know about Soccer and US Soccer as a whole. These two pundits are not Soccer minded guys. Their expertise is in Football, Basketball and Baseball, so they are not going to understand what this accomplishment means to the US. The US being a top 16 country in Soccer, more or less, is a very high level, especially for a country that Soccer is around fifth in popularity. This just shows the massive potential that the US has in Futbol/Soccer if the sport was just more popular.

[@arsenioseslpodcast3143]

well, 5th in viewership. If you look at academies and how many young ones player, it's uneblievably high. Thing is, blacks don't play soccer, they stick to the other sports because they're gateways out of poverty and can "make it" very quickly. I say this as a black man. White people play soccer, and this is why we are so bad. lmfao

[@vidalrodriguez2001]

We can talk about the attack struggling and all, the defense is doing good, pretty good, they haven’t conceded a goal, but there is definitely a case for their midfield in being one of the best in the tournament so far, with their performances they’ve been able to control each game and have given the attack any bit of bite to begin with. They made the wales and Iran midfield, especially Wales look BAD, and we’re able to keep England’s strong attack at bay. They’ve been performing great

[@hezzy7958]

But it’s not like there not creating chances

[@scottblish766]

Of the many sports that Stephen A. Smith knows very little about, soccer is perhaps the one he knows the least

[@topsykretts2264]

It is extremely hard to score in soccer. As long as USA gets out to their group and moves into the next stages.

[@PranMatic24]

These two guys are clowns. They don't know that soccer games are decided by the slimmest of margins because they're so low scoring. Wales game it was one dumb challenge that led to the PK. England game Pulisic hits the post. Iran game Weah was one body part offsides from 2-0 win. That would've been 4 goals and 9 points, dominant performance. You can't just look at stats and/or box score and make judgements based on that, you have to actually watch the game flow of the match to see what is going on to get the best assessment.

[@kosadolphe4978]

Stephen A and his cohost have no idea about football. The team did great. Having a draw with England with this young team who never been in WC before is a hug success. It’s funny how the cohost mentioned how many minutes they played without scoring goals 😂😂😂

[@sunrae3971]

This is not a sports show but rather some US reality tv.

[@SmilesPerGallon-]

😂They just need a debate on everything. Someone told SAS to argue so he did. It’s a success. A mild success but they’ve accomplished the primary objective.

[@BakerClassics]

When he called it a franchise 🤣

[@Medpasta]

Taylor sounds like Jimmy Kimmel lol

[@marcusfairley1949]

Whoever that guy in the middle was, needs to get more TV time! What a spaz 😂

[@betonblack3621]

There are only 16 teams in the whole world in this knockout phase. This is a big deal. There are teams with rich soccer history’s that aren’t here.

[@onyxblack1167]

Lmao SAS think that scoring in football is easy like in basketball.

[@juanmadero7941]

England goals vs Iran: 6 England goals vs Wales: 3 England goals vs USA: 0 Enough said, our attack needs to improve its finishing, but our defense is a fire wall.

[@matsbartram7642]

usmnt is a succes, you guys are improving at soccer/football as a country, better results over the last decade and showing u guys are for real.

[@louididdy]

What a nightmare for Taylor to have to talk to these guys about Soccer. They don’t know about the world outside the US.

[@ashenafiwolde8982]

The performance against England by itself is a success. Someone should tell Stephen England is like a dream team in Basketball. And USA is like McDonald's All Americans or Duke and the USMNT had managed to outplay them. USA didn't even play to win the game because of the coach, he wanted them to settle for a draw. Imagine if he pushed them just a little bit, we might have seen upset. Forget about success. I think USMNT are scary. Nobody want to play them. They should be the favorite vs. the Netherlands. They can do it and put the doubt to sleep.

[@nistelchel]

SAS. Compared to NBA, USMNT making round 16 is equal to New York Knicks making second round of playoff level of "SUCCESS"

[@gio957]

Yes it's a success. Everytime the US soccer men makes the " playoff" in a world cup, its a success for US soccer.

[@llydrsn]

Great job US Mutant Ninja Turtles! Oh, wait 😬

[@fadethechannel]

😂😂 i always think TMNT when I see USMNT

[@distraughtxl1824]

Lmao

[@guillermomerlano2088]

Twellman only speaks about recent history. The US finished in third place back in 1930. Also an American was the first player to ever score a hat trick in a world cup... Also if you take away the MLS superstars from the squad the team would had been much younger and definitely more talented. Way to many European based players were left out...

[@arsenioseslpodcast3143]

3rd place with just 12-13 teams in the tourney. That was 90 iyears ago. Litearlly during the Nazi uprising and after trench warfare. That doesn't count lmfao

[@guillermomerlano2088]

@@arsenioseslpodcast3143 England won a questionable world cup back in 66 and they still talking about it like if it was yesterday. 🤷

[@gideonkukoyi8935]

Love me some Taylor Twellman

[@juans8356]

Here's the deal. Logic says Netherlands will win. But the United States has a young squad. One thing that remains true is that the US has no pressure to surpass anyone. I can see Netherlands screwing up and the US getting an upset.