U.S. national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann has reiterated the "ambitious" target of reaching the semifinals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. 

Klinsmann took over as U.S. coach in 2011. The 51-year-old won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2013 but saw the U.S. knocked out in the last 16 by Belgium at the World Cup in Brazil two years ago and eliminated in the 2015 Gold Cup semifinals.

But after the U.S. reached the semifinals of last month's Copa America Centenario, eventually bowing out to runner-up Argentina, Klinsmann believes the Americans are on their way to future success.

"We all want a brighter future for the national team, and we want the United States to become established as one of the world's top-10 teams," Klinsmann told CNN. "But it's not going to be easy considering how many strong soccer nations there are around the world.

"We set an ambitious goal for the 2018 World Cup — to reach the semifinals. And, if we start with the end goal in mind, we obviously want to win the World Cup one day. There are huge challenges, and it will take a lot of hard work. But things are definitely moving in the right direction. Our goals are challenging but achievable."

Klinsmann added that "soccer has clearly made it in the United States" as a "mainstream major sport."

"The next step is to become one of the best soccer nations in the world," he said. "The USMNT has become an important engine for growth in the United States. We're trying to do everything we can to make the national team as successful as possible in the World Cup, which is the benchmark for everyone around the world.

"The attention that soccer in the United States gets at the World Cup is what pushes the game forward for the next four years. And because we made it out of the 'Group of Death' in Brazil [alongside Germany, Portugal and Ghana], the game got another big boost emotionally — from millions of American soccer fans and from the media."

However, USA still needs to qualify for Russia 2018, with two games remaining in the fourth round of CONCACAF qualifying. USA sit second in Group C on seven points, three behind Trinidad and Tobago. But Guatemala are just one point adrift in third, with only the top-two nations in each group making it into the fifth round.

USA's final two matches are against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on September 2, before facing Trinidad and Tobago four days later.