Why America's 96-Year World Cup Drought Finally Ended (opens in new tab)

The U.S. men's soccer team just won consecutive World Cup games for the first time since 1930. So what changed? Not one thing. American soccer professionalized. Youth development improved. MLS academies matured. Dual-national recruiting expanded. More Americans developed in elite European environments. But one change deserves more attention: America's soccer talent pool got deeper because it started drawing from more of America, including more elite Black American athletes. For much of Americ...