I don't get the US fans' overreactions to these tournaments where it's mostly a 'disaster' if they don't make a run
Don't get me wrong, results are nice but its more important to develop at least a handful of good players each cycle for the senior NT and to develop a style of play (what's the point of winning a youth WC if you park the bus each match and get lucky?). How many times have these African sides gone to the SFs at the U17s and U20s and they still have accomplished little at the World Cup stage. Speaking as a fan of the Croatia NT, the generation which played in the 2018 WC, the majority have never played in a youth WC or even a youth Euro (Modric, Rakitic, Mandzukic, Perisic etc..), in fact they were frequently knocked out in the qualifiers. Basically its not the be all end all