THE TAKE
"There's something really special about the World Cup..
USA has been the best team that we've seen play so far in the tournament" ~ @MikeGrella10
#PMSLive
BOLDNESS
25/100
GRADE
42/100
PLAYERS / TEAMS
None tagged
GRADING CRITERIA
TRUE IF
USA's performance metrics (wins, goals scored, goals allowed, possession, shot quality) through the point of the take rank them above all other teams in the tournament;
FALSE IF
another team has demonstrably outperformed USA by those same measures up to that date.
recency biasvague
OUTCOME
PARTIALLY TRUEThe take was made on June 15, right after USA's 4-1 win over Paraguay — a result that earned the USMNT high praise and cracked the ESPN power rankings top 10. However, by the resolve date of June 21, the field had evolved significantly: Germany beat Curacão 7-1 in their opener, Canada crushed Qatar 6-0 with dominant possession metrics (78% possession, 31 shots), the Netherlands hammered Sweden 5-1, Japan had their largest-ever World Cup win, and Argentina posted a Messi hat-trick in a 3-0 win. By objective metrics like goals scored, goal differential, and dominance, Canada and Germany in particular had arguably outperformed USA's 4-1 result by the resolve date.