The U.S. men's national team has a major opportunity hosting the next World Cup. Is it ready?

This was supposed to be the 'Golden Generation' of soccer players in the U.S. But 12 months out from the World Cup, many questions remain for the national team.

Tony Meola knows the pressure of competing in front of his home fans. Back in 1994, when the United States hosted the FIFA World Cup, Meola, the national team’s starting goalkeeper, and his teammates had not one but two jobs: beat the competition and help grow the game.

“It was relentless,” he told NBC News. “Twenty-four hours a day for a year leading into the World Cup. Promotion of the game, events. We never stopped.”

His team did its part off the field — the event shattered attendance records even though soccer wasn’t the most popular sport at the time — and it made it out of the group stage before it lost 1-0 to eventual champion Brazil. Though it wasn’t the result it wanted, that squad is credited for helping generate major interest and participation in the sport stateside.

Meola had dreams of one day seeing the U.S. men’s national team become perennial contenders. But more than 30 years later, with the country (along with Canada and Mexico) hosting the 2026 World Cup next June, he says there’s still as much up in the air as there was two decades ago.

“I don’t feel like we’re ready right now,” Meola, now an analyst for CBS Sports Golazo Network, said of the current U.S. team. “I want to see progression over the next year and go into [the World Cup] with as few question marks as possible, not going in there sort of fearing what’s going to happen.”