Football is a game of sliding doors; of individual moments, decisions, and unintended consequences and the vastly different outcomes that result. Often it can take years, if not decades, to properly understand them, but the nascent signs of one of these divergences could be felt as soon as this June, when the United States take on Australia at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Injuries aside, it appears certain that an in-form Norwich City striker, fresh from a successful season in England’s Championship, will be striding out onto the field for the Americans’ second group game. But it will be Mohamed Touré appearing at Lumen Field in Seattle, kitted out in the Socceroos’ green-and-gold, rather than fringe USMNT striker Josh Sargent.
The sliding doors moment? That happened in January, just hours before the transfer window slammed shut. Desperate for a new striker, Norwich completed the signing of Touré from Danish side Randers FC, paying a reported £2.6 million for his services and inking him to a four-and-a-half-year deal. The club had been monitoring Touré ever since he first landed in Europe as an 18-year-old at Ligue 1 side Stade de Reims, and now sporting director Ben Knapper and coach Philippe Clement had moved to bring the Australian to Carrow Road.
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The move was rushed through because, at the time, there was an ongoing standoff between Norwich and their incumbent forward Sargent over his desire to complete a move to Toronto FC. Sources told ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle that the MLS side had submitted a £13.4 million bid for the striker in December, which had been rejected, and when talks between the two clubs appeared to break down in January, the situation turned increasingly bitter.
A fortnight before Touré’s arrival, Sargent had been banished to Norwich’s under-21s by Clement after texting the manager to tell him he wouldn’t be available to play against Walsall in the FA Cup because of “transfer things in his head.” Appointed in November following the ouster of Liam Manning, the Belgian coach was doing a fine job of dragging the club out of the Championship’s relegation zone, meaning that the hierarchy in Norfolk were happy to back his hardline approach when it came to the U.S. international.
Reports on the other side of the Atlantic, meanwhile, suggested a bitter meeting between Sargent, Clement and Knapper over his absence from the Walsall clash saw the latter make comments about Sargent’s family, leaving the striker visibly upset. The Missouri-native had three young children, and a desire to move closer to home was one of his key drivers for a switch to Toronto, as was a hope that a move to the MLS would boost his flagging hopes of being part of the USMNT’s squad for the coming World Cup.
It was against this acrimonious backdrop that Touré debuted for Norwich against Blackburn Rovers on Feb. 7. The impression that he made was instant. After coming on as a substitute, Touré’s 78th-minute strike sealed a 2-0 win and, in his starting debut against Oxford United just a few days later, the Socceroo found a way to go even better: becoming the first Norwich player to score a hat trick on their full debut since Laurie Sheffield did so in 1966. A goal in the FA Cup against West Bromwich Albion and an assist against Birmingham City in the league soon followed, giving Touré six goal involvements in five games by the time Norwich and Toronto came to terms on a US$22 million deal for Sargent.
Subsequently picking up an injury that ruled him out until the start of May, Touré’s return has heralded two assists in a win over Millwall, a hat trick in last weekend’s 4-2 win over Bristol City, and yet another goal against Derby County on Tuesday in a 2-1 victory that moved the Canaries up into ninth spot on the table. Norwich’s transformation under Clement has been a remarkable one; fears of relegation that had marked the start of the campaign are now but a memory, and Touré’s 12 goal involvements in his first 10 games with the club have them on the brink of an unlikely challenge for the promotion playoff places. It’s fair to say that and not too many Norwich fans are missing Sargent that deeply.
But they’re not the only fans in green-and-yellow (well… gold) relishing it all.
Alongside Nestory Irankunda, Touré has served as one of the main projects of Socceroos coach Tony Popovic since Australia secured qualification for the World Cup last June. After getting 25 minutes off the bench in a qualifying win over Saudi Arabia, Touré featured in all six of his nation’s subsequent friendlies, with Popovic investing four starts in him — including against World Cup-bound opponents New Zealand, Canada and Colombia — during this period.
Indeed, Popovic has used the luxury of 12 months lead-in to the World Cup to cast his net far and wide during the build-up to the tournament and, while results haven’t always been forthcoming and questions remain, he’s been rewarded by the emergence of not just the likes of Irankunda and Touré but also players such as Jacob Italiano (Grazer AK), Lucas Herrington (Colorado Rapids), and Kai Trewin (New York City FC).
Already considered to have the inside running on Australia’s striker position thanks to his strong performances in these games, as well as what was already a impressive campaign with Randers (nine goal involvements in 18 games), Touré seizing his opportunity at Norwich has most considering him to have locked in a starting role for Australia at the World Cup.
And it’s impossible not to think that his and the Socceroos’ gain isn’t due to an opportunity that wouldn’t have presented itself without the Sargent standoff.
Conversely, while it’s impossible to know if Sargent would have been able to force his way into Mauricio Pochettino’s plans by the time the World Cup began — not selected in the October or November windows, Sargent last netted internationally in 2019 — it’s difficult to see how this saga, which saw him squander almost two months’ worth of football, has helped.
The 26-year-old was widely seen as trailing Folarin Balogun, Haji Wright, Ricardo Pepi, and Patrick Agyemang in the battle to secure a place in Pochettino’s squad, with the likes of Weston McKennie also able to step in as a stop-gap option if needed. And while Agyemang has suffered an Achilles injury that will rule him out of the World Cup, Sargent doesn’t bring the same kind of physical profile that would make him a like-for-like replacement.
Now, in the world of international football, one can never say never. Injuries could hit between now and the time that Pochettino announces his 26-player unit in May, opening the door for shock selections, or there could be a late surge in form. Touré, for his part, also has plenty of time to go off the boil or pick up an injury, too.
But in the short-term at least, it appears that Sargent’s acrimonious exit from Norwich City not only cruelled his World Cup chances, but has also inadvertently handed a significant boost to one of the USMNT’s World Cup group rivals.
Reporting from ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle contributed to this report.
