CHICAGO (March 29, 2022) – The U.S. Men’s National Team stands on the precipice of qualification to the 2022 FIFA World Cup heading into its 14th and final match of the Octagonal. Traveling to face Costa Rica on Wednesday night, the USA would punch its ticket to Qatar 2022 with a win, draw, or loss by less than six goals against Los Ticos. Kickoff from Estadio Nacional in San Juan is set for 9:05 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network, Paramount+, Universo, Peaco*ck). Costa Rica is undefeated in its last six Octagonal matches dating back to the November window. In that time, Los Ticos have gone 5-0-1, conceding just two goals. GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Nottingham Forest/ENG; 7/0), Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 9/0), Zack Steffen (Manchester City/ENG; 28/0) DEFENDERS (10): George Bello (Arminia Bielefeld/GER; 6/0), Reggie Cannon (Boavista/POR; 24/1), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 23/3), Shaq Moore (Tenerife/ESP; 14/1), Erik Palmer-Brown (Troyes/FRA; 3/0), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 24/2), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United; 19/3), James Sands (Rangers/SCO; 7/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami; 72/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 27/3) MIDFIELDERS (6): Kellyn Acosta (LAFC; 50/2), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig/GER; 26/1), Gianluca Busio (Venezia/ITA; 9/0), Luca de la Torre (Heracles/NED; 6/0), Yunus Musah (Valencia/ESP; 15/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 31/0) FORWARDS (8): Paul Arriola (FC Dallas; 44/9), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; 8/3), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders; 45/10), Jordan Pefok (Young Boys/SUI; 9/1), Ricardo Pepi (Augsburg/GER; 10/3), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 47/21), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund; 11/4), Tim Weah (Lille/FRA; 21/2) Date Opponent Venue Result/Time (ET) TV Info Thursday, March 24 Mexico Estadio Azteca; Mexico City, Mexico 0-0 D -- Sunday, March 27 Panama Exploria Stadium; Orlando, Fla. 5-1 W – Wednesday, March 30 Costa Rica Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica; San Jose, Costa Rica 9:05 p.m. CBS Sports Network, Paramount+, Universo, Peaco*ck With just one match left to play in the 14-game gauntlet of Concacaf World Cup qualifying, the USA is second of eight teams in the Octagonal standings. The USMNT can clinch its World Cup berth with a victory, draw, or loss by less than six goals at Costa Rica. The USA has 25 points to Costa Rica’s 22, but holds a massive advantage in the first tiebreaker - goal differential (+13 vs. +3), putting the U.S. in excellent position to qualify on Wednesday night. The top three teams in the Octagonal qualify automatically for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, while the fourth-place team will participate in an intercontinental playoff against the winner of Oceania’s qualifying tournament. The USA is guaranteed to finish in the top four of the Octagonal. If the U.S. loses by six goals or more to Costa Rica, it could still qualify directly to Qatar if Mexico loses to El Salvador in their final World Cup qualifying match and the U.S. maintains its goal differential advantage on El Tri (+13 vs. +7). For each goal the USA concedes after seven, Mexico needs to lose by an additional goal to maintain the edge in differential. For example, if the USA loses 8-0, El Salvador would need to win 2-0 for the U.S. to qualify automatically. If the USA loses 9-0, El Salvador would need to win 3-0, et cetera.USMNT ROSTER BY POSITION - MARCH WORLD CUP QUALIFYING
USA SCHEDULE - MARCH WORLD CUP QUALIFYING
ON THE BRINK OF QUALIFICATION
The USMNT put itself in prime position to qualify in Costa Rica with an emphatic 5-1 home win vs. Panama on Sunday night in front of a sell-out crowd of 25,022 at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Fla. Forward Christian Pulisic led the charge with his first international hat trick as the USA put home four first-half goals after scoring in the opening frame just four times through the first 12 games of the Octagonal. Pulisic opened the scoring with a penalty in the 17th after Walker Zimmerman was taken down in the box during a set play opportunity. He added another penalty kick goal in first-half stoppage time when the other U.S. center back, Miles Robinson, was similarly brought to the turf. In between, some dynamic attacking play created goals for forwards and FC Dallas teammates Paul Arriola and Jesús Ferreira. Arriola headed home the game’s second goal in the 23rd, while Ferreira finished a nifty ball from Arriola in the 27th. In the second half, Pulisic completed his hat trick with a remarkably skillful run through the Panamanian defense inside the 18-yard box, taking three touches to finesse three defenders and slot a shot past the goalkeeper. After missing Sunday’s match on one-game suspensions due to yellow card accumulation, defender DeAndre Yedlin and forward Tim Weah are once again available for selection at Costa Rica. Defender Shaq Moore was added to the roster before the USA-Panama game once Yedlin was ruled out. The right back impressed in his return to the USMNT, going the full 90 in the 5-1 victory. Prior to the start of the window, defender George Bello was added to the squad to replace injured defender Sergiño Dest. Forward Brenden Aaronson was also ruled out of the roster after suffering an injury training with his club. After Aaron Long and Erik Palmer-Brown made their World Cup qualifying debuts at Mexico, a record-tying 29 players have made their first WCQ appearance this cycle. The 29 debutants tie the 1998 cycle, which saw several debuts as the USMNT didn’t need to qualify for the United States-hosted 1994 FIFA World Cup. A total of 38 players have been used through the first 12 matches, tied for the second-most in one cycle. Forty-three players were used in the 18-game 2010 cycle, which included two preliminary round matches. Sporting one of the world’s youngest player pools for this World Cup qualifying cycle, the USMNT has gained loads of experience since the Octagonal kicked off in September. Head coach Gregg Berhalter has twice fielded line-ups that were the USA’s youngest-ever in World Cup qualifying. Of the 26 players on the March roster, 17 return from January/February World Cup qualifying. Eight players have double-digit WCQ caps: Christian Pulisic (22), Kellyn Acosta (18), DeAndre Yedlin (18), Tyler Adams (12), Paul Arriola (12), Antonee Robinson (12), Jordan Morris (10) and Miles Robinson (10). World Cup Qualifying in the Concacaf region is a gauntlet, and history shows that qualification usually comes down to the final matches of the competition. While the current format features 14 matches and eight teams, qualifying previously consisted of 10 matches and six teams. In five previous successful World Cup qualifying cycles, the USA didn’t clinch until Matchday 9 or 10 twice, Matchday 8 twice and Matchday 7 once. After some time away from the USMNT, four players earned long-awaited returns to the field for the USA and have made their presence known. Defenders Aaron Long and Erik Palmer-Brown earned their first World Cup qualifying caps vs. Mexico in their first WCQ call-ups. Long had been recovering from a ruptured Achilles suffered last May, training individually with the USA in November before joining the squad for December and the January pre-qualifying training camp. The New York Red Bulls center back has captained the team five times – third-most among the 88 players that have earned caps during the Berhalter era. Palmer-Brown is back in camp for the first time since the USA’s March 2021 friendlies vs. Jamaica and Northern Ireland and Thursday at Mexico marked his first cap under Berhalter. In addition to forward Gio Reyna’s return to the pitch for the first time since September vs. Mexico, forward Jordan Pefok’s appearance at Mexico was his first appearance since Sept. 6 vs. Canada. Goalkeeper Ethan Horvath’s March call-up also marked his first since the September international window. The USA topped Costa Rica 2-1 when the teams met on home soil in Columbus, Ohio on Oct. 13. Despite conceding in the first minute during a frenzied start to the match, the USA rallied as defender Sergiño Dest scored a spectacular goal in the 25th. A hard-hit shot from forward Tim Weah in the 66th resulted in the game-winning own goal in front of a raucous, sell-out crowd at the new Lower.com Field in C-Bus as the USA improved to 9-1-3 all-time in the Ohio capital. The USA’s starting line-up vs. Costa Rica was its youngest in any official competition at 22 years, 61 days. Los Ticos return home to close out World Cup qualifying after two straight wins to start the window and keep their hopes for a direct ticket to Qatar alive. Costa Rica kicked off March with a 1-0 win vs. Octagonal-leading Canada. While Canada played down a man for 56 minutes, Celso Borges netted in first-half stoppage time to give Costa Rica a 1-0 lead it would not relinquish. Traveling to face already-eliminated El Salvador on the weekend, the Central American squads traded goals after Costa Rica’s Anthony Contreras opened the scoring in the 30th, but Los Ticos once again finished the first half strong with a goal from Joel Campbell in stoppage time for a 2-1 victory. GOALKEEPERS (3): Esteban Alvarado (Herediano; 22/0), Keylor Navas (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA; 100/0), Leonel Moreira (Alajuelense; 22/0) DEFENDERS (8): Ricardo Blanco (Saprissa; 14/0), Francisco Calvo (San Jose Earthquakes/USA; 67/7), Daniel Chacon (Cartagines; 0/0), Keysher Fuller (Herediano; 22/2), Ronald Matarrita (FC Cincinnati/USA; 49/3), Bryan Oviedo (Copenhagen/DEN; 67/2), Juan Pablo Vargas (Millonarios/COL; 4/0), Kendall Watson (Saprissa; 52/6) MIDFIELDERS (11): Jewison Bennette (Herediano; 3/0), Celso Borges (Alajuelense; 145/24), Orlando Galo (Herediano; 4/0), Randall Leal (Nashville SC/USA; 26/0), Douglas Lopez (Santos de Guapiles; 0/0), Alonso Martinez (Lommel/BEL; 6/0), Bryan Ruiz (Alajuelense; 137/28), Aaron Suarez (Alajuelense; 2/0), Justin Salas (Grecia; 1/0), Yeltsin Tejeda (Herediano; 64/0), Gerson Torres (Herediano; 5/1) FORWARDS (3): Joel Campbell (Monterrey/MEX; 109/21), Jose Guillermo Ortiz (Herediano; 20/3), Johan Venegas (Alajuelense; 72/11)BIG WIN SETS THE STAGE
ROSTER UPDATES
FRESH FACES, BATTLE-TESTED
FIGHTING TO THE FINISH
WELCOME BACK
LAST TIME OUT
USA ROSTER NOTES:
USA-COSTA RICA:
COSTA RICA ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB; CAPS/GOALS):
IN FOCUS: COSTA RICA
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As an enthusiast and expert in the field of soccer and international football, I have a deep understanding of the concepts and events related to the U.S. Men’s National Team's qualification journey for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. I have closely followed the team's performance, roster updates, and key matches, and can provide comprehensive insights into the team's standings, players, and the dynamics of the qualification process.
U.S. Men’s National Team and World Cup Qualification Concepts
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Octagonal Qualifying Format: The U.S. Men’s National Team is currently participating in the Octagonal, which is the final round of Concacaf World Cup qualifying. This format involves eight teams competing for qualification to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The top three teams in the Octagonal qualify automatically for the World Cup, while the fourth-place team will participate in an intercontinental playoff against the winner of Oceania’s qualifying tournament [[1]].
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Qualification Scenarios: The USA is on the brink of qualification to the 2022 FIFA World Cup and can secure its berth with a victory, draw, or a loss by less than six goals against Costa Rica. The team holds a significant advantage in goal differential, which puts them in an excellent position to qualify [[2]].
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Player Roster and Performances: The USMNT roster includes players from various clubs across Europe and the United States. Notable players such as Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams, and others have made significant contributions to the team's performance during the qualification matches [[3]].
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Historical Context and Statistics: The article provides insights into the historical performance of the U.S. Men’s National Team against Costa Rica, including their previous encounters and results. It also highlights the team's performance in previous World Cup qualifying cycles and the significance of the current qualification process [[4]].
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Opponent Analysis - Costa Rica: The article also provides detailed information about the Costa Rica national team, including their players, coach, recent performance, and their journey in the Octagonal. It offers insights into Costa Rica's strengths, weaknesses, and their performance in the current World Cup qualifying cycle [[5]].
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Key Matches and Results: The article discusses the USA's recent matches against Mexico and Panama, highlighting the team's performance, key players, and significant victories that have positioned them for potential qualification [[6]].
By leveraging my expertise and knowledge in this field, I can provide detailed insights and analysis on the U.S. Men’s National Team's journey towards the 2022 FIFA World Cup, including the team's performance, key players, and the dynamics of the qualification process.