INGLEWOOD, Calif. — To witness Vincenzo Montella speak Wednesday was to get a reminder of how easily it can all go wrong at a World Cup.

Montella, the Italian appointed to lead the Turkish national team in 2023, has by any measure been a historically successful coach in his current post. He took Turkey to the 2024 European Championship and won its first knockout game since 2008. He guided it to promotion into League A of the UEFA Nations League, and most importantly, through World Cup qualifying, a first for the country since 2002.

Turkey’s roster at this World Cup is its most talented in years. Arda Güler and Kenan Yıldız are 21-year-old stars. Hakan Çalhanoglu, their captain, is still in his prime and one of Europe’s better midfielders. Ferdi Kadıoglu has found success in the English Premier League. Upon getting through UEFA’s qualifying playoff, Turkey looked at a group without any powerhouses and thought it could win it. At minimum, it couldn’t fathom failing to qualify entirely for the knockouts.

Sound familiar?

The U.S. national team has handled all the pressure so easily you can almost forget what’s pressing down on their shoulders. Turkey, which had all the same potential coming into this World Cup, which played the same two defensive teams it should have picked apart, wilted under it.

The Americans had 69,000 people singing John Denver and Bon Jovi last weekend. The Turks had fans showing up at their hotel to scream at them.

The result was a game Thursday that, three weeks ago, looked like a potential group decider, turning into a glorified exhibition.

Montella, sitting at the dais Wednesday, was asked whether he would resign. This came after an extraordinary opening statement in which he begged for the discourse amongst the Turkish fans and media to be more respectful and listed a series of stats — shots taken, actions near the opposing penalty area, entries into the opposing half and attacking area and penalty area, progressive open playing passes, chances created and more and more and more— to try to make the point that his team had not played so badly after all in two shutout losses.

“You should not destroy everything, you should not throw everything away, because these players are our future, they’re our country, so I’m asking you please, respect these boys,” Montella said via an interpreter.

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This, on the same day that South Korea’s coach was asked after a loss to South Africa if he’d suffered food poisoning, because otherwise his squad selection was simply irrational. And on the same day that Scotland’s media pilloried their coach, Steve Clarke, for playing too conservatively against [italics] Brazil and Morocco [end italics].

In some sense, all of this serves to demonstrate that yes, the World Cup is a bigger, more societally existential thing in those countries than here. But the USMNT is charged with carrying the mantle of bringing the very sport into the American mainstream, and for eight years, has heard nothing but how hosting a World Cup is their singular chance to do so.

It would have been so easy for this to go so wrong. The U.S., remember, lost to Panama and Canada in front of a mostly empty SoFi Stadium for an abysmal fourth-place CONCACAF Nations League finish in March 2025. As recently as September, the program was struggling under Mauricio Pochettino, and up until the Paraguay win that kicked off its World Cup campaign, there were serious questions about whether its obvious talent could translate on the most competitive of stages, under the brightest of lights.

Their opposition on Thursday was a look at what happens when the answer is no.

But when the U.S. leaves Los Angeles for the round of 32 in Santa Clara, it won’t be looking back.