Texas fans got a fresh reason to laugh at the World Cup on Monday night, and it came courtesy of a pre-tournament comparison that suddenly looked a lot funnier after the United States crashed out.
The US Men’s National Team was knocked out with an ugly 4-1 loss to Belgium, and for Texas Longhorns fans, the timing made an old college football analogy land even harder. Before the tournament, The Next Round, a weekly college football and SEC podcast, matched 22 college programs with countries in the FIFA World Cup. One of the more memorable pairings put Texas A&M with the United States.
The description was brutal in the best possible way: "Peak historic success dates back to the 1930s. Possess unlimited money, talent, and resources, yet struggles to put it all together," comparing the Aggies to the USMNT.
After Monday night, that line had a little extra bite. The Americans made it back to the Round of 16, only to unravel against Belgium in Seattle, and the result felt like a mirror of Texas A&M’s own postseason heartbreak against the Miami Hurricanes in the first round of last season’s College Football Playoff. The Aggies hosted that game and lost 10-3, managing only a field goal.
The comparison got even more entertaining for Texas fans because the Longhorns were linked to England, a team described as: "Always burdened with massive media hype, but historically tends to underdeliver when it matters most," comparing Texas to England.
England beat Mexico 3-2 in the Round of 16 to move on to the quarterfinals, which lined up with Texas winning postseason games in the 2025 College Football Playoff over Clemson and Arizona State.
Oklahoma didn’t escape the exercise either. The Sooners were matched with Sweden, which was shut out by France in the Round of 32.
The description for that pairing read: "The model of high-level consistency. They boast a top-tier historical record and are a safe bet to dominate their regional schedules, but they are still fighting to cross the finish line for a modern championship," comparing Oklahoma to Sweden.
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