Maybe, at this point, they don't want to.

The USMNT threw a World Cup qualifying series to get their coach fired.

Given the political and the like makeup of the USWNT, it would not surprise me if we eventually found out they didn't want to win this World Cup to make a point about this nation.

Mike

Once again, the US women�s national soccer team (USWNT) is generating
headlines and, as has become all too typical, the publicity has nothing to
do with their on-field performance. Instead, players are courting
controversy for a pointless refusal to sing the national anthem before
their World Cup matches.

Such protests have become dismally commonplace in recent years. Longtime
USWNT player Megan Rapinoe, for example, has been demonstrating during the
anthem for years, and she stated in 2019 she did not believe she would
ever sing it again. In 2021, those protests also reached the Olympics,
where several American athletes engaged in demonstrations during anthem
ceremonies.

Of course, all of this raises an obvious question: why even bother
representing a country whose anthem has come to symbolize something so
detestable? It should go without saying that any athlete using their
status as a representative of the United States to publicly bash it
conveys a vulgar ingratitude. Moreover, it�s disingenuous � none of these
women will be packing up and moving to another country anytime soon. And
it�s also utterly shameless, the behavior of petulant, entitled children
lashing out for attention.

Nevertheless, perhaps the reason such stunts have become so typical is
because they are so effective at garnering the attention their
perpetrators appear to crave. What is marketed as a kind of courageous
stand against the powers that be ironically results in endless adulation
from those very same powers. The mainstream media cheers. Politicians
award Presidential Medals of Freedom. Stunning and brave, it is not.

In fact, many on the USWNT seem to consider this kind of political theater
to be the team�s primary purpose. They don�t appear to be doing a good job
promoting soccer � these antics relegate discussion of the actual match
results to a few fleeting paragraphs at the end of much American coverage.
It is almost humorous to consider how little coverage of the US women�s
soccer team seems to care about the US, women, or soccer.

Sadly, such absurdity is not limited to this year�s World Cup. Like the
USWNT, most of America�s formerly respectable institutions � its leading
universities and businesses, the military and Hollywood � have been torn
from their putative missions and instead commandeered to tear down
America�s traditions, disparage its history, and debase its pride on the
global stage. For America-hating ideologues, nothing gives them more
pleasure than to subject the rest of us to this perverse self-
flagellation.

However, as illustrated by Anheuser-Busch�s debacle earlier this year,
most Americans don�t appreciate being the target of such obvious and
overwhelming disdain. So it should come as no surprise that many are
simply tuning the competition out altogether. According to a recent poll,
only 10 percent of US adults said they planned to watch the women�s World
Cup with any regularity.

It�s really a shame. A good women�s national team could have done a lot
for their country, their sport, and women�s athletics writ large.
Unfortunately, instead, they seem to be more interested in currying favor
with the ruling class. Win or lose, that will be the ultimate headline
coming out of their World Cup performance.

Terry Schilling is the president of the American Principles Project

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/soccer/if-the-us-women-s-team-can-t-
respect-the-national-anthem-they-don-t-deserve-to-represent-america/ar-
AA1eufPp