At 37, another World Cup is possible because Tim Ream continues to continue with the American national team

Of course, the United States automatically qualifying itself as one of the co-animators of the 2026 World Cup, the next one that appears in a match may not be before 2027 or 2028.

“I will probably not be involved,” he said. “If I am, we have big problems.”

But here is the thing with Tim Ream: who can say that he will not be there? He continues to continue. Many, including himself for a while, thought that the 2022 World Cup would be the last, but here is the player who went from St. Dominic High in O’Fallon, Missouri, at St. Louis University at Major League Soccer at the English Premier League, which always begins for the national team. He was 38 years old in October but played more minutes than anyone in the team in 2025, and will capture the team for the 21st time on Sunday when he faced Mexico during the Concacaf Gold Cup championship match in Houston.

It is an important game for the American team, not only because it is the regional championship match that will be played in front of a huge crowd against its biggest rival, but it is also the last competition match that the team will play before the World Cup, which is less than a year old. After that, each match will be friendly.

Someone asked him on Saturday that it was his last chance to win a Gold Cup.

“My last chance?” he replied laughing. “Maybe. They have been telling me for a long time.”

But among the people who were not sure of the future of Ream, there is Tim Ream. When the United States was eliminated from the most recent World Cup, on December 20, 2022, in Qatar, to almost everyone, it seemed that it would be the last time for Ream. He was 35 years old, which even made him the former of a national team populated by players in their twenties. The list of players who had been part of the national team at this age was short, the list of field players even shorter.

“I think that if everyone is coming back, they will say, oh, he thought he had finished,” said Ream on Wednesday evening after the 2-1 victory of his team against Guatemala in the semi-finals. “He thought he had finished with the American team. And to be completely honest, as I thought, okay – what am I, 35? Everything happens together – and thinking: “OK, it was my one and only World Cup”. But the more I thought about it. Everyone can try to withdraw me, but I’m still going to play.

“So I did, and that’s where I am, and I get there or not, it’s not only for me, I know, but it’s also mine. Are, within a year, and happy to be here and to help, happy to help these guys, and happy to continue to push me to try to get to another. »»

His decision came only a few months after Qatar. Anthony Hudson had taken over as an acting coach from the American team after the expiration of the Gregg Berhalter contract in January 2023. Ream played for Fulham, his longtime English club, at the time.

“Anthony Hudson came to London and said,” Hey, can you meet me? “” Said Ream. “I met him for a coffee and he said,” What do you think? ” And I said to myself, I mean, if you want me there.

Berhalter said that as long as Ream was playing in the Premier League, he would have a place with the American national team, and even now that Ream has returned to America to play with Charlotte in MLS, the coaches who followed Berhal, whether temporary or full -time, like Mauricio Pocsettino, who followed him.

“Tim is a very experienced player,” said Chris Richards, 25 and Ream’s partner on the back line of the Gold Cup. “I have tried to learn a lot from him in recent years. And he’s just a good guy in general, a good guy to bounce back and love, what is 37 years old? So he still has a few years of experience on me. Anyway, it’s a good guy just to get around. “

This leadership was one of the reasons why the coaches continue to bring Ream back, and the link that this group has made for over a month that it was together, a moment for everyone to get to know Pochettino and its staff was held as, win or lose, one of the best things about this tournament.

Ream could joke about this Saturday – “I have the impression of having 20 more children in my family,” he said – but the reality is that it is one of the reasons why he has dragged.

“When you have this feeling,” said Ream, “from, oh, that’s my national team, that’s what I do. I walk on the guys in my hometown. It’s just a pride. It’s just a pride. It’s just being able to continue to do it, it’s what pushes me. The atmosphere and helping these guys to become better players and better people, that’s what this jersey is quite, and the pride that I will never change.

“I am so happy that I am with this group and so happy that I can help them.”