"It's almost electrifying when I walk into his team hotel. They all like each other. They all get along. They all just want to win, and they want to win for this country." That's Antonio Freeman — Super Bowl XXXI champion, former Green Bay Packers wide receiver, and, crucially, the father of USMNT defender Alex Freeman — talking about the U.S. men's national team at the 2026 World Cup.
He's not just a proud dad talking up his son's squad. Freeman made back-to-back Super Bowl runs with Green Bay in 1996 and 1997, winning ring number one with a 35-21 victory over the Patriots. He knows what a championship-caliber locker room feels like, and he says this USMNT has it.
"This is the best team in the U.S. that they have put together, and all of these guys just want to win. Their camaraderie, it glows, whether they know it or not," Freeman told the Rich Eisen Show. "Not only on the field."
What 'magic' actually looks like on the pitch
It's easy to dismiss locker room vibes as feel-good noise. The USMNT is backing it up with results. Two group stage wins for the first time since 1930 — and the first time ever in the modern World Cup era — have already locked up top spot in Group D with a match to spare. Thursday's game against Türkiye is essentially a glorified training run.
The cohesion Freeman is describing shows up in real, measurable ways. The team moves in lockstep defensively, strings together 30-plus pass sequences, and bounces back from individual setbacks as a unit. When Christian Pulisic went through a goal-scoring drought, his teammates shut down every outside critic. When Pulisic himself got dropped from the starting lineup against Australia due to injury, he was pitching striker Ricardo Pepi before kick-off rather than sulking on the bench.
That's not a soft story. That's the kind of internal culture that carries teams deep into tournaments — and makes them unpredictable in knockout football, where odds models struggle to account for cohesion.
History is already being rewritten
The round of 32 brings a tougher test, and the bracket only gets harder from there. Every historical data point says the USMNT shouldn't be seriously considered a contender. But Freeman, who knows what defying expectations looks like from the inside, isn't hedging.
"I just hope that these guys continue to glow, keep that energy, play hard, play physical and believe in themselves because they are right there on the cusp of doing something great."
Two wins in. History already broken. The next chapter starts when Türkiye is out of the way.
