Get free access to the most comprehensive World Cup coverage in The Athletic app.FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — U.S. men’s national team winger Sergiño Dest walked from locker room to field on Sunday in Charlotte and, as he looked around Bank of America Stadium, he saw something that “surprised” him.He saw 57,741 fans, most of them urging on the USMNT, pushing them to a 3-2 win over Senegal. The energy, winger Christian Pulisic said, “really carried us through.”Throughout the second half, as starters decompressed on the bench, “everybody was saying how incredible it was, how great it was to have a pro-U.S. crowd, and feel that connection with the fans in the stadium,” captain Tim Ream said.And it was a sign that, with the World Cup on the horizon, a longtime pain point for U.S. Soccer is suddenly becoming an advantage.Throughout the 2026 World Cup cycle, “we have also played in stadiums that we didn’t really have fans,” Dest noted. They have played in front of empty seats, and in stadiums overtaken by fans of opponents. They’ve felt like an away team on home soil against foes from all five major soccer continents.Between 2022 and 2025, U.S. fans were seemingly outnumbered by Morocco supporters in Cincinnati; by Colombia supporters in Maryland; by Turkey supporters in Connecticut; by Guatemala supporters in St. Louis; by Mexico supporters in multiple cities; and by South Korea supporters in New Jersey.But with a home World Cup near, all of that is changing. Buzz is building. And Sunday was the beginning.Sunday’s friendly against Senegal began with a “U-S-A” viking clap, with crescendoes of noise that continued throughout the first half. “I was really impressed,” Pulisic said postgame. “I don’t remember many better venues playing in America. I felt like the energy in the stadium was there, and that drove us so much. Like, that helps so much.”It was the opposite of, say, last year’s Nations League finals, when around 60,000 seats at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles were empty.And according to the players, it made a difference.“It changes things,” Ream told The Athletic on Wednesday. “For sure.”