CHESTER, Pa. - For Jim Curtin, Alejandro Bedoya and everyone else associated with American soccer, the pain of missing the World Cup remains fresh, especially as the tournament kicks off this week.
But Wednesday's announcement that the United States, in a joint bid with North American neighbors Canada and Mexico, won the vote to host the 2026 World Cup not only eased a lot of that pain but also gave them a whole lot of hope for the future of the sport.
"Obviously this year everybody talks about the big setback and the generation of kids that can't turn on the TV this go-round and watch the U.S.," Curtin said during the Union coach's weekly press conference. "It does hurt the game a bit, for sure, but to now have the World Cup in our home country is something that I think is incredible to grow the game. There's nothing quite like seeing a World Cup match live. I think that will be a great experience for young kids, a great experience for our country."
As for Bedoya, the Union captain will probably never get over the U.S. national team's recent World Cup failure, especially since he played a prominent role at the 2014 World Cup and during this past qualifying cycle before watching from the bench in horror as the Americans were stunned by Trinidad and Tobago last October to miss out on Russia 2018.
And given his age, the 31-year-old midfielder will be past his prime for the next World Cup in Qatar, and possibly retired when the World Cup comes to North America in eight years. Even still, it's nice to think about what hosting the 2026 World Cup could mean for the growth of the sport he loves.
"Hopefully by that time, 2026, it's like the inflection point of soccer in our country," Bedoya said. "The sport keeps growing, the league keeps getting better. From my time in Europe, I know all of the European guys would love to play in this league, live in America and play here. It's only a matter of time before soccer continues to take over, let's say, hockey in the ratings and viewership and attendance. So it's a big moment we officially got it for our country."
Curtin agrees the sport has already grown a lot since the last time the United States hosted the World Cup in 1994, pointing to increased television coverage of MLS and the big European leagues as well as, more locally, the kids he spots in his Philadelphia neighborhood wearing Bedoya or Lionel Messi jerseys.
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He can only imagine how much bigger it will get if Lincoln Financial Field is selected as one of the venues for the 2026 World Cup - and also what that would mean for Philly, a city that he says has a "lot of buzz" right now in a lot of different ways.
"Specifically to Philadelphia, this is a soccer town," the Union coach said. "There's a rich history here. It's tough to predict what 2026 will look like, but to think a team could be using this campus down here [in Chester] as kind of their home base, whether it's Argentina or Spain or who knows what country, that's a really good thing to envision.
"It's great for the game. There's a lot of happy faces throughout soccer in our country right now."
