Country Roads: USMNT strengthen identity on heels of viral moment | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. – Amid the many rich storylines surrounding the United States' rousing, ongoing run at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Mauricio Pochettino’s headlong swan dive into his adopted nation’s cultural stew might just be the most fascinating.

“I like country music now,” the USMNT’s Argentine head coach told a group of reporters in a media roundtable at the team’s beachside Southern California hotel Tuesday night. “We are very fond of country music. Also, Teddy Swims, I really love Teddy Swims – ‘Bad Dreams.’”

Poch’s American Revolution, as it turns out, has a soundtrack. Earlier on Tuesday, the coach posted to social media a video of music from Nashville songstress Lainey Wilson playing as he and his staff prepared for a training session, dubbing it “American vibes.”

Though he can be selective, too.

“Ella Langley,” he added, reeling off another hot artist who’s made his summer playlist, “but she was with the British guys” – a reference to England star Harry Kane and some of his teammates attending one of Langley’s concerts while at their World Cup base camp in Kansas City.

Seattle's memorable moment

By far the most viral of these moments unfolded on the pitch after the Yanks’ 2-0 win over Australia in Seattle on Friday, as the John Denver classic ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ boomed over the sold-out stadium’s loudspeakers as the team saluted their supporters, sparking – as it so often does – an impromptu collective singalong.

“These are my brothers,” noted defender Chris Richards, an FC Dallas academy alum. “All of us know that part of being American is knowing 'Country Roads,' so we were all singing it together.

"It was cool, again, to hear everything from the crowd, and the crowd knows they've been our 12th man so far in this tournament. If we need that extra one percent, they're always there for us. So it's been amazing.”

For a program eager to inspire a massive nation and push their sport further into the mainstream this summer, it felt like catching lightning in a bottle.

“It's just being proud of the country,” said Philadelphia Union product Auston Trusty afterwards. “'Country Roads' is a very American song, and to hear that in the stadium, everyone singing along? If you're American, you probably know that song. Everyone's singing and celebrating the win, and you're smiling and happy with your teammates.

"It's a dream come true. It's a feeling that I can't really describe.”

The crowd-pleasing chorus might just have rang out louder than the collective singing of the national anthem pregame, a tribute to the judgment of Amy Hopfinger, who worked as an executive at U.S. Soccer for nearly two decades before joining FIFA as this tournament’s chief strategy and planning officer.

It was Hopfinger who made sure ‘Country Roads’ was included on the playlist the USMNT, like other World Cup teams, submitted to FIFA for use before, during and after their matches, along with Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ on a Prayer.’ She’d noticed how a rendition of Oasis’ ‘Wonderwall’ brought England players and supporters together after their win over Croatia – something MLS watchers will recognize, given that song’s power as a longstanding Minnesota United FC anthem.

Known across the globe

‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ got both US and Aussie voices singing along when it was cued up during a hydration break and immediately after the final whistle. It didn’t hit quite like ‘Country Roads,’ though.

“Of course, that’s a song that I think everyone knows,” said USMNT winger Alejandro Zendejas, “and if you don’t, you should get to know the lyrics. It’s a really nice song.

“I’m sure we’ll play it this week.”

There’s a bit of irony here, given that West Virginia, the nominal subject of Denver’s ode, is one of the few states yet to produce a USMNT player. Yet the song’s sudden soccer resonance has prompted pride in the Mountaineer State – and besides, the lyrics were originally inspired by a drive Denver’s co-writers Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert took through the Maryland countryside outside Washington, D.C.

Its universality has made it a global export for decades, including adaptations in places like Manchester United.

“Yeah, yeah, that song’s popular all over the world,” said US striker Folarin Balogun, a dual national who grew up in England.

As his Dutch-Surinamese-American teammate Sergiño Dest noted on Wednesday: “It's a nice song, it's a nice song … It fits the moment. After the game, it was nice to see everybody singing, and we listen a lot to that song also in the dressing room.”

Building identity

Player after player has described how Pochettino has sought to crystallize elements of wider American identity to help strengthen their own, urging them to embrace the opportunity of a home World Cup just as their forbears did with the Space Race, technological innovation and myriad other examples throughout history.

“The American culture is very unique. Sometimes when someone will say something to him in a meeting or whatever, and it sounds like super American slang, he's like, ‘huh,’ and I just find it so funny,” revealed Christian Pulisic with a smile on Wednesday. “He's really in tune with it.

"Like, I'm in his office yesterday, he's listening to country music and things, and it's just funny to see. But then he also brings kind of his Argentinian culture, and the staff show us things from there. It's a unique bond with the group, for sure.”

In doing so, Poch believes they can draw the backing of the entire country, even the wide swathes of it where soccer has yet to fully penetrate. Here, he pointed to his experience of a big-time college football game last autumn, where he saw a powerful communal energy he hopes to harness for the beautiful game.

“We were in Columbus watching Ohio State against Texas; there were 70,000 fans there. And my question was, why not? If the fans are very passionate, then why are they not with us? With soccer,” he explained on Tuesday, sitting in front of a wall splashed with the words ‘WHY NOT U.S.?’, the catchphrase of his tenure, in huge letters.

“If they will be with us, and show the same passion, it is massive – so powerful for the players – and now we achieve that. I think it's amazing, and that changes a little bit the game.

“Why not be here, being part of something that can create a legacy?” he continued. “That is the most important legacy, no? The connection between the national team and the fans. That is for me the legacy. It is not to win the World Cup – of course we want to win, but that is the legacy that we need.”

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