USMNT Embrace FIFA World Cup

Although still not a primary sport in United States culture, ‘soccer’ continues to gradually grow in popularity among US locals.

The United States men’s national team (USMNT) took part in the first-ever FIFA World Cup in 1930, as one of just 12 participating countries in the maiden edition of the prestigious tournament. Almost a century later, the Stars and Stripes are set to partake in the World Cup finals for an 11th time.

This time four years ago USMNT was ranked 25th in the FIFA world rankings after failing to qualify for the showpiece, for the first time since 1986. Now, USA returns to the world stage having missed the 21st edition of the event in Russia last time out.

Heading to Qatar, USMNT are ranked 16th in the world – two places lower than at the start of both the 2010 and 2014 tournaments in South Africa and Brazil; at both events did Team USA crash out in the first knockout round. The nation’s best return at a World Cup came two decades ago, when they reached the quarter-finals in South Korea and Japan.

‘Tis the season for believing ✨🇺🇸

T️he @USMNT‘s FIFA World Cup run begins November 21 on FOX! pic.twitter.com/CHb7LNXakg

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) October 28, 2022

In qualifying for this rather unusual winter World Cup in the Middle East, USMNT came 3rd in the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) qualifiers.

USMNT were victorious seven times of its 14 matches and they ended 3 points behind Canada and Mexico, who in turn won eight games apiece. USA finished level on 25 points with Costa Rica, edging the Central Americans to qualification by virtue of a superior goal difference (11:5).

In the past the USMNT had been overly reliant on individual players, particularly Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey. The pair of strikers were responsible for four of USMNT’s five goals at the 2010 World Cup, before the latter scored two of his team’s five goals in Brazil 2014.

This time around we may witness a more collective effort by Team USA, with head coach Gregg Berhalter boasting a considerably well-rounded squad with floods of unearthed potential. Berhalter, 47, was appointed in December 2018 and now almost four years into the job, he has had ample time to experiment and develop an attacking brand of soccer with the crop of players at his disposal.

The USA boasts a flurry of talent playing for teams across some of the very best leagues in Europe.

Perhaps the headline name among the current USMNT roster would be none other than Christian Pulisic. The Pennsylvania-born forward made a name for himself at Borussia Dortmund, signing with the German team aged just 16 years. He made his debut for the senior team in January 2016, aged 17 years & 4 months.

Pulisic is the highest-scoring active player for the USMNT with 21 goals but he is still some way shy of Dempsey and Donovan’s and joint-record tally of 57 goals. The Chelsea attacker has been struggling for confidence at club level, with one goal in 17 games this season, though he ought to relish the opportunity of playing talisman for national team.

Pulisic, 24, was USA’s top scorer in 2022 World Cup qualifying, finding the net five times in 10 games – including a hat-trick in their penultimate qualifier against Panama. He has also captained USMNT on 12 occasions, first wearing the armband two months after his 20th birthday.

The success story of Pulisic in Germany inspired another young American, Giovanni Reyna, to follow in the footsteps of his fellow countryman. The attacking midfielder joined Dortmund prior to his 17th birthday, similarly to Pulisic, and made his first appearance for the senior team aged 17 years & 2 months.

Reyna was actually born in the UK, to American parents, and the family resettled in New York when Gio was five-years-old. His father, Claudio, earned a total 112 caps for USMNT and he went to four World Cups (1994; 1998; 2002; 2006) with his country. At club level, Claudio played for Rangers and Manchester City, before retiring at local team New York Red Bulls in 2008.

Gio turns 20 a week before the World Cup gets underway but until then he remains one of the most sought-after teenage prospects in the sport. This season so far hasn’t seen the very best of the youngster, with nine of his 13 appearances coming off the bench, but he is still expected to play a key role for his nation in Qatar.

The Premier League in England also houses the likes of Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson who moved to Leeds United this past summer. The USMNT midfielders both switched from Red Bull franchises in Austria and Germany, costing Leeds a combined $48,5million USD in transfer fees.

Matt Turner, 28, has been the primary goalkeeper for the USMNT for the best part of 18 months and he signed for Arsenal in the summer with the aim of remaining in goal for national team. Turner has kept three clean sheets in four outings for Arsenal, with all of them coming in the UEFA Europa League.

Fulham left-back Antonee Robinson produced three assists in World Cup qualifiers. Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards, 22, is nursing a leg injury and persistent fitness issues have seen him feature in only two of 12 matches for USMNT in 2022.

German-born midfielder Malik Tillman currently plays for Scottish side Rangers. He played for his birth nation until under-21 level, before opting to represent USA at senior level. Tillman’s father has US citizenship and the 20-year-old received his USMNT debut in June this year, in a friendly versus Morocco.

Central midfielder Yunus Musah has been at Valencia in Spain since 2019, upon signing from Premier League team Arsenal. Musah is aged 19 at the start of the tournament in Qatar and he has already racked up 19 caps for USMNT.

In Italy, Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie is at risk of missing the World Cup as he looks to overcome a hamstring injury. Sergiño Dest is at AC Milan, on loan from European giants Barcelona, however the right-back has made only two starts and is averaging less than 45 minutes per appearance for the Italian champions.

Happy birthday, @sergino_dest! 🎉🎂🎉 pic.twitter.com/PSzARmWdVe

— U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team (@USMNT) November 3, 2022

Timothy Weah, son of 1995 Ballon d’Or winner George Weah, is another to look out for. Born in NYC, the centre-forward plays for French side Lille and the 22-year-old recently recovered from a foot injury which ruled him out of the start of the season.

Fellow striker Ricardo Pepi has earned 10 caps for USMNT before turning 20 and he contributed three goals and three assists in World Cup qualifiers. Pepi, 19, is spending this season at Groningen in the Netherlands, on loan from German club Augsburg.

On top of players abroad, there are also a select few plying their trade at local franchises in Major League Soccer (MLS). DeAndre Yedlin has 74 caps to his name, the most of any active USMNT players, and the right-back is contracted to Inter Miami. Attacking players Paul Arriola and Jesus Ferreira both play for FC Dallas, Jordan Morris is at Seattle Sounders, and captain Walker Zimmerman is signed to Nashville SC.

U.S. Soccer – governing body of soccer activities in the States – will host an exclusive roster reveal event on Wednesday, November 9 in New York City, where the federation will officially reveal the 26-man roster to represent the nation at Qatar 2022.

It is now down to coach Berhalter to exploit the loads of potential in his ranks. The 2022 World Cup officially starts on November 20 and USMNT is in Group B together with England, Iran, and Wales. The top two teams in all eight groups advance to the last-16.

Bet365 have USMNT at +100 to progress from the group stage in Qatar, or -138,89 to miss out on the knockouts.