Nearly four years after ignominiously bowing out of 2018 World Cup qualifying, the USMNT is ready to begin qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. The last four years have felt like a lifetime on and off the pitch in the U.S., but Sept. 2 marks the start of an opportunity to rewrite the script, a chance to cast off the miserable low of 2017 and show the country how much the team has improved.
Or not — we’ll see.
Concacaf World Cup qualifying begins for the USMNT on Sept. 2 against El Salvador. After the match in El Salvador, the U.S. hosts Canada on Sept. 5 and then travels to Honduras to play on Sept. 8. The last game of this first WCQ window is the one that has me concerned.
I predict the USMNT to get seven points from these first three qualifying games in the form of victories against El Salvador and Canada, but a hard-fought draw in Honduras. Why is that? The Olímpico Metropolitano, and really anywhere in Honduras, is a fortress.
We’re all getting nice and familiar with 20-year-old USMNT phenom Brenden Aaronson at this point. The Medford, New Jersey native flew through the youth ranks at Philadelphia Union and immediately established himself as one of MLS’s brightest attackers despite being just a teenager.
In December 2018, after more than a year without a coach, U.S. Soccer tapped Gregg Berhalter to lead the USMNT through the 2022 World Cup. Before he even took the field for his first training session, many American fans were unhappy with the hire. Now nearly three years later, is it OK to like what Berhalter is doing with the USMNT?
I’m pretty used to getting hate mail these days. When you discuss human rights in relation to soccer, people get pretty upset and are not afraid to send anonymous emails spewing hatred toward me, which ironically proves my point more often than not.
I’ve never gotten as much hate mail as I have this week when I reported on Carli Lloyd refusing to join her teammates in kneeling to protest the ongoing racial inequalities in the U.S. and around the world.
A single tear of joy trickled out of my eye Friday morning when the news appeared on my phone that Canada defeated Sweden to win the gold medal in women’s soccer. I wasn’t crying for the maple syrup queens; I was overwhelmed with happiness knowing I wouldn’t have to cover games in the middle of the night anymore.
Concacaf, the ragtag group of 41 soccer-playing nations and territories in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, can now definitively claim it is the best confederation in FIFA. With three medals from the 2020 Olympics, Concacaf is taking home more hardware than any other region.
I’d never happily admit to spending $560 on FIFA, but that’s basically what I’d be doing if I decided to purchase FIFA 22 on its Oct. 1 release date.
The USMNT put in a legendary performance on Sunday night to firmly stamp themselves as the kings of Concacaf with a 1-0 victory against Mexico to win the Gold Cup. I along with many critics doubted that this squad could get the job done. I have never been happier to be wrong.
Alright, it’s been long enough that we can’t get yelled at for early-scene spoilers: I need to talk about that Tomorrow War soccer scene.
“The Tomorrow War” is one of the summer’s biggest blockbusters, an action-sci-fi movie streaming on Amazon Prime. It opens with a terrifying glimpse into a future where Qatar is actually allowed to host the World Cup next year. Oh, and there are scary aliens too.