SEATTLE — Before the biggest game in U.S. men’s national team history Monday, let’s spend a few moments considering a critical, nuanced and complex question:

Is this the best hair the USMNT has ever had at a World Cup?

Much like Christian Pulisic’s tapered modern mullet, it is an issue with layers. The best-coiffed team in American lore needs a combination of creativity, striking standout looks and true depth. No one-man shows allowed.

This U.S. group makes a strong argument. From Weston McKennie’s red-white-and-blue dye patch to Folarin Balogun’s tight curls, Tim Ream’s man bun to Chris Richards’ afro, Antonee Robinson’s bleached locks to Matt Freese’s near mohawk fade, there is no denying that this team’s follicular field tilt is substantial.

Is it the best though? Opinions vary.

“I might be biased, but hell no,” said Tony Meola, who in addition to playing on the 1990, 1994 and 2002 U.S. World Cup teams is also the proud son of a New Jersey barber.

Meola pointed to the 1994 U.S. team, which included Alexi Lalas’s untamed red mane, Marcelo Balboa’s “long flow,” as Meola put it, Cobi Jones’s dreadlocks and Meola’s own slicked back ponytail, which was so popular among fans that the goalkeeper ultimately had to cut it after the tournament because, he said, “too many people were coming up to me asking if they could touch it.”

“My thing is that the current team, a lot of their hairstyles — which are great — would be considered normal or you’d see on other people,” Meola said. “Back in the ’90s, we were different than everyone else. The hair was a big part of our identity in a way that it isn’t for these guys.”

It is a fair point: Clint Mathis’ intense mohawk at the 2002 World Cup, for example, was very much an outlier of its time, and the growth of hair culture among current athletes is undeniable.

The U.S. even has a renowned stylist from London — Sheldon Edwards of HD Cutz — embedded with the team since the start of the tournament to help players cultivate their looks. As a result, many — including Edwards — say that commitment to exploring different ways of expressing oneself through hair is a reason why this team is making such an impact.

“They’re connecting to fans in a different way,” Edwards said. “I love being able to help them do that.”

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Edwards, who has worked with countless athletes and is an admitted connoisseur of soccer hairstyles from tournaments past, told ESPN that most of the American players take their hair very seriously and have specific concepts in mind.

Ream has a bag of elastics that he bought in London and cycles through different shades to hold his bun in place. (He used the pink one in practice Saturday). Weah has his “a lot of his own ideas” and is very particular about angles, according to Edwards. Tyler Adams “wants a nice, slick, precise look.” Picking McKennie’s colors, Edwards said, was an intensive process that involved close examination of many samples. One of Edwards’s colleagues is particularly skilled with braids, so she came in specifically to help with Mark McKenzie, Miles Robinson and Haji Wright.

When coach Mauricio Pochettino sat in the chair, the focus was on cleaning up what is “a really lovely head of hair,” Edwards said, as well as making sure to put in enough product “so that the wind won’t blow it in his face when he’s on the sidelines.” (Pochettino’s floppy front pieces can tend to whip.)

Edwards also noted that Pochettino doesn’t seem to have lost much hair from coaching stress, “which probably comes with working with great players,” he said. “So kudos to him for that.”

The hair-loss element — or lack thereof — is also working heavily in favor of the 2026 team. An unscientific examination of U.S. World Cup hair data (read: digging up team photos) indicates that this is first U.S. team in at least 20 years to not have a bald player or head coach.

“I’m almost certainly not the right one to ask,” said Bob Bradley, who was one of those bald coaches in 2010 and whose son, Michael, was one of those bald players in 2010 and 2014. “But it does seem like in today’s game, this is much more of a thing for the players. In our day, there were a few guys who traveled with clippers and that was about it. Obviously, it’s bigger now.”

Edwards said that he has occasionally tried to inject a bit of World Cup hair history into his interactions with the U.S. players. For instance, Edwards previously worked with former Belgium international Marouane Fellaini, whose electric afro made him one of the most identifiable players of his era. Richards, who has been at the heart of the U.S. defense throughout this tournament, is now putting his spin on the style.

“It’s a bold statement to show a lot of hardcore character as a defender,” Edwards said. “You still need a bit of taper fade, and we care for the edges. Chris is really pulling it off.”

Although no cut during this current World Cup is quite the vanguard that Ronaldo Nazario’s triangle “Cascao” look was at the 2002 event, Edwards said that many fans seem to be gravitating to the braids/bun combo look of the Netherlands’ Crysencio Summerville as well as the lively colors of McKennie.

As for whether this U.S. team has the best hair in American soccer history, Edwards demurred but Meola had a compromise that he felt was fair.

“If we’re going to compare,” he said, “I would prefer that the ’94 team wins the hair game. And this team gets to win the actual World Cup.”