SEATTLE, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was succinct in saying he thinks that the United States men’s national team has a chance to win the World Cup. Defender Chris Richards doesn’t think it’s a wild idea at all, either.

Richards Backs Ambitious Goal

After the U.S. turned in a second convincing and largely complete performance in beating Australia, 2-0 on Friday, Richards addressed Ibrahimovic’s one-word reply, “yes”, when the former Sweden star was asked on Fox’s postgame show if the U.S. had a chance to go all the way at this tournament.

“I don’t think it’s ridiculous to say that we want to win it,” Richards said. “Obviously, we have a lot more games before we get to that moment, but you know, we take it one game at a time.”

He added: “We want to lift a trophy by the end of this.”

Strong Start Sets High Expectations

That would be a remarkable conclusion to a run that has certainly started as well as the U.S. could have hoped. A wide-ranging demolition of Paraguay in the group stage opener and another strong showing here against Australia, even with star attacker Christian Pulisic out injured — secured the U.S. a place in the knockout stage ahead of its final group game against Türkiye at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Thursday.

And it has plenty of those in and around the U.S. program thinking, if not talking, about making the ultimate history. Of course, the farthest the U.S. has advanced at a modern World Cup is the quarterfinals in 2002. Reaching a quarterfinal again was seen by most observers as the benchmark for success for this team as it plays in a home World Cup for the first time since 1994.

So, there are plenty who will understandably preach caution in getting too excited. Certainly, coach Mauricio Pochettino said as much in his news conference, and Tyler Adams suggested the team might benefit from instituting a 24-hour rule after which the U.S. stops celebrating and returns to its present-moment focus.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” he said.

Team Feels Different

But whether it ends in a trophy or not, there’s no question that many in this program believe that this team is different and excited to see how far these players can go.

“I’ve told these guys that this is the most fun, special, enjoyable group that I’ve been a part of,” veteran defender Tim Ream said. “That’s not to say that other groups weren’t special, that other groups weren’t fun, that guys didn’t, you know, put in everything they possibly could. But there’s something about this one that just feels, it feels different.”