Barcelona's Konrad de la Fuente has told ESPN he believes the United States are capable of winning a World Cup thanks to an emerging batch of talented youngsters in Europe.
De La Fuente, 18, has represented the U.S. youth teams since under-16 level. He was part of the side that reached the quarterfinals of the U20 World Cup in 2019, beating France in the round of 16 before losing to Ecuador.
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Despite failing to qualify for the last World Cup in 2018, there are plenty of reasons for the U.S to believe there is a bright future ahead. There have never been more players spread across some of Europe's biggest clubs, including Christian Pulisic at Chelsea, Sergino Dest at Ajax and Josh Sargent at Werder Bremen.
Barca winger De la Fuente is not yet among those to have received their first cap for the senior team, but he has lofty goals set for the future.
"My goal with the national team is to win a World Cup," he told ESPN. "That's my personal goal. Everyone has their own and, for me, it's to win a World Cup. I definitely think it can happen. If we continue to grow in our clubs in Europe, I think we can do something special."
De La Fuente is hoping to marry national team success with a place in Barca's first team. The Miami native joined the Catalan club in 2014 and is playing for the B team in the third tier of Spanish football.
He has already trained with the first team, although he is aware he has a lot of hard work ahead of him if he wants to play alongside Lionel Messi at Camp Nou.
"You feel like you have to be really, really, really well prepared," he added. "It's the best team in the world and [Messi's] the best player in the world -- probably ever. Knowing you will be playing with him, you feel like you need to be extra to fit in. That's the hard part. But I like the challenge, it doesn't bother me.
"I don't really feel the pressure. [Making the first team] is something I want to do, so I push myself hard to make it happen. It would be incredible. Everyone back in the States would see that it's possible. If you actually work hard and are confident in yourself, take your opportunities, you can reach whatever goal you set yourself."
De la Fuente has seen teammate Ansu Fati make a major impact this season with Barca's first team and believes there are more players in the academy ready to make the jump. However, he warned against branding every youngster coming through as the new Messi or the new Xavi.
"There's not going to be another Xavi, another Messi or another [Andres] Iniesta," he said. "I don't think there will ever be somebody like them, not because [the players coming through are] not good enough, but because everybody is different.
"There will be the first of another player, not another one of someone that's already happened. There's a lot of talented players in La Masia. I know that there will be a lot more to come up to the first team in years to come."