The USMNT returned to action for the CONCACAF Nations League over the past week, and ended up winning the tournament on Sunday night with a resounding 2-0 victory over Canada. Chris Richards and Folarin Balogun tallied the goals for USA as they coasted past Canada after winning a heated match with Mexico on Thursday in the semi-final.

It was great to see the USMNT deliver in some high stakes games, and manage to come out on top in the tournament. According to interim manager B.J. Callaghan, that is something the team set out to do in this tournament, and they used their experiences from the 2022 World Cup to help them in their efforts to continue building up momentum ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

“We're looking beyond to the 2026 World Cup, and we need to perform in high-intensity knockout games. That's something that we learned from the World Cup.” – B.J. Callaghan, ESPN

The USMNT had a decent run in the 2022 World Cup, advancing out of the group stage before falling to Netherlands in the Round of 16. However, the team showed it's potential throughout the tournament, and it looks like they have some big goals they are building towards ahead of the next World Cup.

2026 is still quite far down the line, and with Gregg Berhalter getting re-hired to be the head coach of the USMNT, Callaghan's impact moving forward will likely get overlooked. But it's clear that the core of the USMNT knows they have some experience in big games now, and they put that on full display in their big win over Canada.