The road to Qatar 2022 begins in San Salvador, where the U.S. will look to win its first qualifier away from home since 2013.
The U.S. men's national team's road to redemption, in the form of a 2022 World Cup berth, begins Thursday night in El Salvador, where the first of 14 qualifying matches takes place at Estadio Cuscatlán.
After missing the 2018 World Cup, the U.S. is focused on getting back to the grand stage—even if this group is not dwelling on what transpired four years ago. Instead, a slew of young players led by a new coach are looking to ride the momentum of having won two Concacaf trophies this summer and climbing to 10th in FIFA's world ranking. To keep that momentum going, they'll have to achieve what no U.S. men's team has done since 2013: Win a road qualifier.
They'll have to do so without two presumed starters, with Christian Pulisic (COVID-19, fitness) and Zack Steffen (back spasms) both unavailable for this match. They've remained in Nashville to train before the rest of the U.S. joins them Friday ahead of Sunday's qualifying match vs. Canada at Nissan Stadium. The September window concludes with a Sept. 8 trip to San Pedro Sula to face Honduras.
But before then there's the matter at hand against El Salvador, which is ranked 64th in the world but showed it can be dangerous at this summer's Gold Cup, where it fell in the quarterfinals to guest nation Qatar. Coached by former U.S. men's national team standout and U.S. Soccer youth coach Hugo Pérez, La Selecta is out to make an early statement against one of the region's giants.
That giant sprung a few surprises in the starting lineup. Center back rock John Brooks was left on the bench, with veteran Tim Ream partnering with Gold Cup hero Miles Robinson in front of Matt Turner, who earned the start with Steffen out hurt. Brenden Aaronson and Konrad de la Fuente entered the XI as well, with Pulisic out and Sebastian Lletget among the substitutes.
Stay tuned here for live updates and highlights of goals and key plays from throughout the match (refresh for most recent updates).
Here are the lineups for both sides:
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The road to Qatar 2022 begins in San Salvador, where the U.S. will look to win its first qualifier away from home since 2013.
The U.S. men's national team's road to redemption, in the form of a 2022 World Cup berth, begins Thursday night in El Salvador, where the first of 14 qualifying matches takes place at Estadio Cuscatlán.
After missing the 2018 World Cup, the U.S. is focused on getting back to the grand stage—even if this group is not dwelling on what transpired four years ago. Instead, a slew of young players led by a new coach are looking to ride the momentum of having won two Concacaf trophies this summer and climbing to 10th in FIFA's world ranking. To keep that momentum going, they'll have to achieve what no U.S. men's team has done since 2013: Win a road qualifier.
They'll have to do so without two presumed starters, with Christian Pulisic (COVID-19, fitness) and Zack Steffen (back spasms) both unavailable for this match. They've remained in Nashville to train before the rest of the U.S. joins them Friday ahead of Sunday's qualifying match vs. Canada at Nissan Stadium. The September window concludes with a Sept. 8 trip to San Pedro Sula to face Honduras.
But before then there's the matter at hand against El Salvador, which is ranked 64th in the world but showed it can be dangerous at this summer's Gold Cup, where it fell in the quarterfinals to guest nation Qatar. Coached by former U.S. men's national team standout and U.S. Soccer youth coach Hugo Pérez, La Selecta is out to make an early statement against one of the region's giants.
That giant sprung a few surprises in the starting lineup. Center back rock John Brooks was left on the bench, with veteran Tim Ream partnering with Gold Cup hero Miles Robinson in front of Matt Turner, who earned the start with Steffen out hurt. Brenden Aaronson and Konrad de la Fuente entered the XI as well, with Pulisic out and Sebastian Lletget among the substitutes.
Stay tuned here for live updates and highlights of goals and key plays from throughout the match (refresh for most recent updates).
Here are the lineups for both sides:
More Soccer Coverage:
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