When Marcelo Balboa started playing soccer, it was seen as a sport for kids to develop social skills. 

There was no wall-to-wall coverage. No Americans playing in Europe. No global superstars playing in the U.S. No sold-out stadiums. No Lionel Messi jerseys sold on the streets of Los Angeles next to Lakers hoodies. 

Balboa used to watch soccer on grainy Univision broadcasts while listening to the iconic voice of Andres Cantor and his infamous “Goooooooool!” call. 

“The first time I heard his famous goal call was when I was a kid watching Univision,” Balboa said. “You started hearing about it because it was different than anything in the U.S.”

Balboa’s parents emigrated from Argentina, where his father was a professional soccer player. His upbringing was different from most Americans. And while the rest of the country was enthralled with the NFL, MLB and NBA in the 1970s and ’80s, Balboa and his family were trying to convince America that the world’s game mattered here, too. 

As the continent prepares for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on June 11, Balboa has a unique perspective as a former player and captain of the United States men’s national team. 

Balboa played in the World Cup for Team USA in 1990 and 1994. His teams were pioneers tasked with dragging American soccer into relevance with little institutional support and almost no global respect. 

Flash forward to today and the current team is walking into the biggest tournament in the sport surrounded by billion-dollar infrastructure, elite academies, European club experience and also the pressure of playing in a World Cup on home soil. 

“The pioneers made soccer matter here,” said Balboa in an exclusive interview with The California Post ahead of the 2026 World Cup. “Now this generation has to prove it can win here.”

The expectations for the U.S. in the 2026 World Cup are sky-high. Simply participating is not enough anymore. Balboa understands that clearly because he has seen the arc. He’s lived it.

“You know I can go all the way back to the 1990 World Cup,” he said. “If we don’t qualify for that tournament, who knows what happens. We had to open everyone’s eyes in 1994.”

Back then, American soccer players were survivalists. Balboa remembers a time without modern training facilities, no world-class soccer stadiums, and without American stars regularly competing in Europe. The mission was cultural as much as competitive. Convince the country to care for soccer first. Results would have to come later. 

The U.S. did not qualify for the World Cup for 40 years from 1950 to 1990. But when FIFA announced in 1988 that the U.S. would host the 1994 World Cup, Balboa knew it was time for that to change. 

They qualified for the 1990 World Cup in Italy but lost all three of their matches and didn’t get out of the Group Stage. Four years later, on home soil, they barely escaped the group but were eliminated in the second round. Over the next 30 years, they would only escape group play three times, with their best finish coming in 2002 when they defeated Mexico to reach the quarterfinals and finished eighth. 

“If we don’t get out of the group, it would be a complete disaster,” Balboa said of expectations for the current USMNT. 

And honestly? He’s right. 

“This team is good enough to reach a quarterfinal,” he said.

Balboa believes that goalkeeper Matt Freese, right-back Alex Freeman and forward Folarin Balogun will have breakout performances in the World Cup, but he also knows all the attention will be on Christian Pulisic.

Pulisic has yet to score for club or country since the start of the calendar year. His last goal came for AC Milan on Dec. 28, a span of 21 straight appearances without a goal. For the U.S., that drought goes back almost two years, to Nov. 19, 2024, against Jamaica, a span of eight matches for the national team.

“Big-time players show up for big-time occasions,” said Balboa of his expectations for Pulisic. “We’ll see if he can break out of his struggles in these two friendlies before the World Cup starts.”

Balboa’s expectations carry even more weight coming from one of the defining faces of American soccer’s rise. He captained the national team during an era when the sport was starved for oxygen. But his team’s run in 1994 became a part of U.S. soccer folklore. His bicycle kick attempt just missed the back of the net against Colombia. It was a flash of audacity before the country fully understood the beauty of the sport.

“I remember the excitement in the crowd during that bicycle kick,” Balboa said. “There’s now a lot of history in the sport in this country. A lot of the best players in the world have played here.”

He rattled off names that once felt unimaginable in American club soccer: Thierry Henry, David Beckham, Robbie Keane, Jorge Campos, Carlos Valderrama and now Messi himself transforming MLS into a global conversation piece.

That growth is exactly why Balboa refuses to lower the standard for this U.S. team.

“I’m surprised a little bit that we keep losing in the second round of the World Cup,” said Balboa of the growth of the U.S. team. “I’d like to see the U.S. reach that mountaintop and get over it. I hope they can put it together this summer.”

He’s right.

After 32 years, the Americans are no longer a novelty act hosting the world. They are supposed to start competing with it. Balboa believes the U.S. should win its group and reach the quarterfinals. He even admitted that once a team reaches that stage, dreaming about winning the whole thing no longer sounds insane. 

But he also understands that the pressure of playing on home soil can suffocate the players. That’s why it’s so important to win their first match on June 12 against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium.

“That first game, you can’t lose,” Balboa said. “You can’t put yourself behind the 8-ball.”

Balboa knows that tension well.

Led by its captain, the U.S. forced a 1-1 draw against heavily favored Switzerland in their first match. They rode that wave of momentum into a shocking 2-1 upset over Colombia in their second match.

Balboa and his teammates carried the burden of proving soccer belonged in America. Now an entirely different generation carries the burden of proving America belongs among soccer’s elite. 

“We all feel it’s our time to do something special,” Balboa said. 

---

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters