‘This Is Why Everyone Hates America’—Jesse Marsch Puts USMNT on Blast
Canada’s American manager Jesse Marsch once again let his emphatic emotions be known when discussing the country of his birth, describing the perceived entitlement behind the Folarin Balogun World Cup controversy as a prime example of “why everyone around the world hates America.”
Marsch had been tipped to take over the U.S. men’s national team (USMNT), which he twice represented as a player, before Mauricio Pochettino was surprisingly appointed in 2024. The former Leeds United boss would quickly pivot to the top job in Canada, leading his adopted nation to its best ever performance at a men’s World Cup over the summer.
The USMNT would exit the competition staged across North America in the same round of 16 as Canada, although under wildly contrasting circumstances. While Marsch’s side was simply beaten by the better team in a 3–0 reverse to Morocco, the U.S.’s capitulation at the hands of Belgium was played to a backdrop of febrile controversy thanks to Balogun’s inclusion.
An unprecedented FIFA ruling, aided by a phone call from U.S. President Donald Trump, saw Balogun’s red card ban suspended for reasons which still remain unclear. The world united in its disgust at the decision, while Belgium used it as extra motivation ahead of a 4–1 pummeling. Marsch argued that this was just one example of a national trait which, to use his words, “infuriates the rest of the world.”
‘We Americans Have Been Inundated With Propaganda Since We Were Young’
“What I feel when the Balogun ruling happens is that would never happen in any other country in the world,” Marsch told The Guardian, “and this is why everyone around the world hates America.”
“We, as Americans, have been inundated with propaganda since we were young,” the former midfielder from Wisconsin claimed. “We’re the No. 1 country in the world, we deserve everything, we dominate everything, No. 1 in every aspect of life. This is what we’ve been told.
“So, when things happen and we don’t feel like we’re in control of it ... we feel like we deserve to be treated differently because we’re Americans. That is one of the things that infuriates the rest of the world about Americans. And Americans don’t know that if they don’t ever leave the country.”
Marsch spent his college and senior playing career exclusively in the U.S. before heading abroad as a manager. Club jobs in Canada, Austria, Germany and England has provided the ex-USMNT assistant coach with a global, and often unflattering, view of his home nation.
“The U.S. had had a good World Cup, was doing well,” he reflected back to that Balogun decision. “All that switched in one moment.”
‘No U.S. President Would Support Everton’
Marsch has rarely hidden his disdain for President Trump, taking particular issue with his branding of Canada as the “51st state.” The Canucks boss would appear to be far fonder of Mark Carney, Trump’s Canadian counterpart, with his support of a middling Premier League club working in his favor.
“I heard you’re an Everton fan?” Marsch asked Carney when they first met. In a sharp retort to the President’s confirmation of that fact, he shot back: “I’m sorry about that.”
“Why does everybody say that?” Marsch recalled Carney responding. “Everybody has to pick their team and stick by them.”
The former U.S. international “appreciated” that loyalty. “There’s something so genuine [about] that,” he explained. “Could a President of the U.S. ever be an Everton fan? No chance.”
In a further comparison of Carney and the U.S. heads of state who Marsch has met, he revealed: “Carney, compared to all of them, the closest would be [Barack] Obama. A real air of intelligence, but a real air of being a regular guy. I think that that’s perfect for this country and this moment.” Obama, however, doesn’t have the added bonus of cheering on the Toffees.
