Clint Dempsey Talks USMNT World Cup Hopes, Pulisic’s Slump, and Hosting Advantage

DJ Siddiqi Sports Betting Expert

9 minute read

Clint Dempsey knows all about what it takes to excel on the World Cup stage for Team USA.

Dempsey is well-known as one of the best players in Team USA history, tied for the program lead in goals (57) while earning the most caps (141). The 43-year-old was a member of Team USA for 13 years from 2004 until 2017.

However, during Dempsey's time with Team USA, there were some bright moments, but they never advanced past the Round of 16. This year's Team USA will be looking for a deeper run, especially when factoring in the presence of star Christian Pulisic, along with other big-name players such as Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie.

As Pulisic prepares for the 2026 World Cup, he's currently on a 19-game goalless streak when factoring in club and country play. Pulisic has gone eight consecutive Team USA matches without a goal, last scoring on Dec. 28, 2025.

"I think just keep doing what you're doing," said Dempsey in a one-on-one interview on the best advice he could give Pulisic. "In big games, creating chances, be brave, take risks, get shots on goal, create shots for other people, and that's what he does -- beat people off the dribble."

Dempsey simplifies it by advising Pulisic to simply go out there and not let the "outside noise" affect him.

"There's not much advice to really give him," said Dempsey. "Just keep believing in yourself, stay confident, don't let outside noise affect you. There's a reason why you've been so successful and continue to do the things that got you where you were. There's not much real advice I'd give him. Just stay confident in himself, and know when you get knocked down, keep getting back up, and he's someone that shows that."

The 27-year-old Pulisic has mentioned before that Dempsey has given him good advice over the years and has been a mentor in the past. However, their contact has been limited recently, with Pulisic busy with his career with AC Milan and Team USA, and Dempsey busy in his role as a soccer analyst.

"To be honest with you, it's one of those situations where it's difficult," said Dempsey in staying in touch with Pulisic. "They're so busy in what they're doing in their career, I'm busy with what I'm doing, and then at the same time, it's like being in this space where you have to talk about the game, it's kind of a tough one. Because I remember what it's like to be a player, to be criticized, and it hurts because you're giving everything that you have, and all you can do is continue to prove people wrong, and the noise that you can't control."

While their contact has been limited leading into the World Cup, Dempsey said Pulisic is like a "little brother" to him, and he's rooting for him in this World Cup.

"The noise that's outside, but at the same time, there's noise because of how popular the game is," Dempsey said. "And then being a former player, when you're doing things, whether you're working with a network or working with brands, you're asked about what's going on, you have to give an honest opinion. For me, it's always that difficult process of threading the needle of what it was like to be a player, and at the same time putting fans and people in the locker room and giving a true assessment of what's going on. But he was always like a little brother to me. I wish him the best, and I think that I'm always a big fan of him and rooting for whatever he does, and he's someone that's shown in the past and will continue to show that in big games. He's one of the people that steps up."

When asked if the key to breaking out of the slump is as simple as seeing one ball slip through to the back of the net, Dempsey said he believes that's the case. Team USA will play Senegal and Germany in international friendlies before beginning their official World Cup schedule against Paraguay on June 12.

Pulisic had an assist off the bench in a recent 2-1 win for AC Milan over Genoa. That was after a five-game streak of not registering any goals or assists.

"Yeah, I think so," said Dempsey. "You got to look at the positive, right? You got an assist, so that is contributing a goal. If you're an attacking player, that's what you want to do. Whether you score a goal or you get an assist, to me that is doing your job. You don't always have to score, long as you're creating goals for your team, that's the most important. Whether you score, you assist, to me, I see that as the same thing. Because it's putting your team in a position to win games, so I think it's just a matter of time before you start seeing more goals go in, hopefully more assists, and those are the type of things that get you going again as an attacking player. You need something good to go for you, and getting that assist was huge."

When shifting gears to the bigger soccer powers on the World Cup stage, there's one player in particular that Dempsey looks at with the most pressure on him entering the World Cup -- none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal's Ronaldo is considered one of the best ever and the best of this generation, along with Lionel Messi.

However, unlike Messi, Ronaldo has never won the World Cup. His best finish was a fourth-place one back in 2006 as a young 21-year-old.

Winning a World Cup would help Ronaldo when it comes to measuring his legacy against Messi, who won as a member of Team Argentina in the most recent World Cup.

"Oh, I'll say the player that has the most pressure on them for their legacy, and I don't know if it's fair to say that, but I would say Cristiano Ronaldo," said Dempsey. "In the sense that Messi has already won a World Cup with Argentina, I feel like that's the one thing that's eluded him, he's won everything else, and by being able to say that he's done that with Portugal would help his argument in terms of that battle between him and Messi.

"I guess I have a soft spot for Cristiano, because of when I was in college and watching him play at Sporting," said Dempsey of Ronaldo. "And then going to Man United, and then me going to the Premier League and playing against him, and how well he did there, and well he did at Real Madrid. I was always kind of a Real Madrid fan growing up with players like Zidane and Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, and what have you. I'm someone that can appreciate both of them, and the greatness which they were allowed to show us, but also be privileged enough to play in their era against them is something that's really cool."

When talking about teams with a lot of pressure on them, Dempsey points toward Team France, which has one of the best players in the world in Kylian Mbappe. He won in 2018 in his first World Cup, but France lost to Argentina in the final in 2022.

"I think it's a huge World Cup for France, the quality that they have on the field," said Dempsey. "If there's a way that they can get all those egos to work as a team and everybody work hard off the ball for each other, like what you see with PSG (Paris Saint-Germain FC) I think they can be really successful. Argentina, how just how crazy the run they've been on with the last two Copa Americas, won the last World Cup. For Messi to get another one would just even further cement his legacy as the greatest of all time, and in terms of like some other teams, Spain, just the way in which they played, how they won the Euros, the exciting young player talent they have, and Lamine Yamal would be exciting to watch them."

Dempsey said in terms of underdogs and dark horses for the World Cup, he mentioned the likes of Morocco and Senegal. The 43-year-old soccer great also mentioned how the United States playing in their home country could lead to success, pointing towards previous host nations in the past.

"In terms of some underdogs and being able to deal with heat, I like Morocco and Senegal," said Dempsey. "Just them getting to the finals of African Cup, the Nations. How they play, dealing with the heat and conditions in the fight, and you have to be able to do well in that tournament. It is a battle, so I feel like they could go on a deep run. When you take it back to South Korea (2002), and then get into the semifinals when they hosted the World Cup, maybe the United States can do something special. Everybody can kind of galvanize and get behind them. All it takes is a win to kind of get everybody believing again. It's kind of what we see, how people come together in the Olympics, especially how everybody got behind the U.S. men's and women's hockey teams. It was cool to watch in the last Winter Olympics."

As far as Dempsey's overall favorite in the World Cup, it's none other than Spain. He also mentions England -- which is looking for their first World Cup since 1966 -- as another favorite among the superpowers.

"Damn, it's tough not to say Spain," said Dempsey. "Just because of the way in which they play, how they won the Euros, even though they lost in the European Nations League to Portugal, I think another team that I didn't mention that has a good shot is England. They're a team with a lot of quality and players in terms of their history and what they've done in major competitions. They haven't been able to bring it home per se, but they've been knocking at the door for a long time, and when you got a striker like Harry Kane, you're always in it. That's such a tough question, man. I have no idea because you need things to come together, people to stay healthy. But it'd be a cool story to see Portugal. It'd be a cool story just in terms of that battle between Cristiano and Messi. I think that would be a great story."

While Dempsey is preparing to analyze the World Cup, he's teaming up with Abbott for the Real Madrid experience for the second consecutive year.

The program offers tryouts for 18-to-19-year-olds in six major markets (Miami, Washington DC, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Chicago) and out of the expected 1000-plus participants, the top 16 players will be selected to travel abroad to train with the Real Madrid academy teams, be evaluated by coaches and scouts and tour Ciudad Real Madrid’s state-of-the-art facilities.

“Just the opportunity to have the platform that Abbott and Real Madrid are giving these kids a once in a lifetime chance to be selected and go to another country and play in front of one of the best clubs and best coaches in the world,” said Dempsey. “Some of these kids have never been on airplanes and never traveled outside the state, perhaps. For me, growing up it would have been one of the once-in-a-life opportunities to do something like that, and to kind of test yourself and put yourself in an uncomfortable situation, see how you adapt.

“Because throughout your life or your career, whatever you do, that's the name of the game — is how well you can adapt to these types of situations,” said Dempsey. “Be true to yourself, try your best, if it doesn't work out, maybe that lights a fire under you to do more, because sometimes people need that. For the ones that do make it, stay hungry, know not the job's not done, like the Kobe Bryant mentality — let's see how far we can take this.”

Recent World Cup Odds from BetMGM have the U.S. at +4000 to snag the World Cup, a true underdog.

Regardless of whether Pulisic blocks out the noise or Ronaldo finally captures that elusive crown, one thing is certain: this World Cup is shaping up to be absolute cinema. Grab your popcorn, because June 12 can't get here fast enough.

DJ Siddiqi

DJ Siddiqi is a sports reporter who focuses on football, basketball and pro wrestling. He has covered some of the biggest sporting events, including the NBA Finals and Wrestlemania and often interviews high-profile athletes. Siddiqi has interviewed the likes of Dan Marino, Emmitt Smith, Shaquille O'Neal, Tony Hawk and Giannis Antetokounmpo. More from DJ Siddiqi