For football players aspiring to their sport’s biggest stage, the obvious path is simple: Star in high school, go to a big-time Division I college and be drafted by an N.F.L. team. For would-be basketball players, the formula is pretty much the same (except some even skip the college part these days).

For American soccer players, however, the road to the top — that is, to a place on the United States national team — has been far more muddled. It is a particularly vexing reality, too: While the United States has found ways to churn out top athletes in international sports such as swimming, gymnastics, bobsledding and figure skating, why has it been unable to produce a truly global soccer star?

Conversations about the issue often revolve around a simple question: Is it better for a young player to seek an opportunity abroad or to stay at home? Yet as the debate has continued within the soccer establishment, with frequently heated exchanges and occasional forays to the line of civility, the United States Soccer Federation has identified what it believes is the root of the matter, and the organization is on the verge of several major changes designed to address it.

To that end, U.S. Soccer is considering outside help. The federation plans to authorize a full audit and analysis of its development academies, covering everything from coaching and tactical approaches to what sort of residency model works best. To facilitate the evaluation, U.S. Soccer has engaged in discussions with a top international consulting firm that has done similar work with clubs in England’s Premier League as well as Germany’s national soccer federation, according to people briefed on the talks.