Watch: Ricardo Pepi fires PSV to UCL victory

Almost exactly one year ago, Pepi was left out of a United States Men's National Team that lost 3-1 to the Netherlands in the Round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. 

With loftier goals for the event in 2026 when they co-host with Mexico and Canada, USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter hopes to see many of his players performing on similar stages. 

Between the levels of competition in Major League Soccer and CONCACAF (the region the USMNT belongs to in international soccer), there simply is little opportunity for Americans play against great teams on big stages at home. 

Instead, they must look abroad for stiffer competition. 

Sure, the U.S. has enjoyed a period of success since 1990 where (excluding 2018) they've been able to fairly easily qualify as one of the 32 nations represented at the World Cup every four years and have advanced through the Group Stage in four of the last six events. 

But once America runs into teams more experienced playing soccer at the highest level in the world like Belgium (who knocked the USMNT out of the 2014 World Cup) or the Netherlands, they stumble onto the stage. 

So if the USMNT has any hope vaulting into conversation about elite soccer nations, players like Pepi at PSV, Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah at AC Milan or goalkeeper Matt Turner and a slew of others in the English Premier League gaining experience against the rest of the world's best is paramount to avoiding embarrassment on home soil in 2026. 

With Lens losing 6-0 to Arsenal, Pepi and PSV's UCL journey will continue to in the knockout stages, where Pepi will get that daunting opportunity.