USMNT Qualification For The 2022 CONCACAF World Cup

Dating back all the way to 1930, the first Inaugural Men’s Soccer World Cup took place in Montevideo, Uruguay from July 13th to the 30th, with 13 different nations competing. The countries that took part in the competition were the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Belgium, France, Romania, Yugoslavia, Uruguay and Paraguay. Since then, the United States Men’s National Team, otherwise known as the USMNT, has made their run of participating in ten World Cups. Making their first appearance in 1930 their best after finishing in a commendable third place. 

After losing a heartbreaker to Trinidad and Tobago in 2018 and not qualifying for the World Cup, it was only vital they changed their entire regime. Head Coach Gregg Berhalter, from 2018 until present day, decided to start with focusing his attention on the team’s roster. He recognized that the overall style of play needed to change and that it started with the players. After consulting with the other coaching staff, it was decided that they were going to bring up some young talent from the Youth National Teams. 

Once the roster was finalized, how they were going to play their game moving forward was changed drastically. According to ESPN.com “The U.S. has been almost unrecognizable from match to match, oscillating between possession principles -- lots of shorter passing, high pressing, etc. -- and the old-school, American ‘goalkeeping and counterattacks’ approach.”  

Although this has been working for them so far, they fear it might not work against the better teams they are going to play, so there might need to be some more changes. For example, “This isn’t necessarily a good thing, as we’ll go into it a bit, but it makes it worthwhile to step back and look at the stats as a whole through six matches.” 

Thus, the United States has done well with putting some major points on the board, keeping them in a solid position to advance. ESPN states, “They are also clearing the bar, just slightly, from a points-per-game perspective. The goal for automatic qualification is somewhere around 24 points, or about 1.7 per game. The USMNT is at 1.8 right now. (A loss to Mexico in their next match on Nov. 12 would drop them back to 1.6, for what it’s worth.)” 

The 2022 Men’s CONCACAF World Cup games officially began on June 6, 2019 with the smaller countries in Asia competing. However, the USMNTs first game was on September 2, 2021, where they tied El Salvador 0-0. After many more games of winning and gaining points, the United States have secured eight more games in the final rounds bracket. 

The countries they will be facing all throughout this stage of the tournament are Mexico, Canada, Panama, Costa Rica, Jamaica, El Salvador and Honduras. Sitting in second place three points behind Mexico, the United States will play two games this November. Their first match is on the 12th against Mexico, and their second is on the 16th against Jamaica. The next few matches for the Men’s National Team will continue all the way until March 30th, 2022. 

The United States Men’s National Team hasn’t been favored to win a World Cup in a very long time due to their lack of wins and advancing in tournaments in previous years. Instead, this year's favorites to win are Brazil and France. However, Head Coach Gregg Berhalter plans to cause one of the biggest upsets for sports internationally by coming as close to winning as possible.  

When he took the job two and a half years ago, his focus wasn’t to win the World Cup, but to change how soccer in America is viewed as a whole. For example, “‘What we’re looking to do is change the way the world views American soccer. I don’t mean we qualify for the next World Cup. What I’m talking about, guys, is how we play, how we act, who we are as a group. And results. That’s the whole picture. And it starts now.’” 

Although, now that they’ve been doing so well and have gotten themselves into the second seed of their bracket, more pressure to continue to advance has been brought onto them. Their most recent game however didn’t result in much success after losing 1-0 to Panama on October 10th. USMNT Head Coach Berhalter states, “‘We’re disappointed. I am disappointed with the performance, particularly tonight. I think the effort was good --- the effort was outstanding --- but the performance wasn’t up to what we expected… Looking at this and keeping it in perspective, we knew it was going to be a difficult road. We knew there were going to be tough games, and we’re getting into it.’” 

As upset as the coaching staff and players of the USMNT are, they feel in a way their game against Panama was kind of a reward. For a team that has been winning a lot recently after not winning much at all these last few years, it was good for them to get a loss early on in the tournament so they can stay both humble and hungry. Additionally, “‘We’re finding out that they are tough games, and that’s something we have to deal with. Our success is going to depend on how we’re able to deal with that as a team.’” 

Despite the amount of success they have experienced so far, the only way to continue to perform well is to keep a short memory and focus on their games to come. Weston McKennie says, “‘We're not really trying to focus on what happened in the past,’ said midfielder Weston McKennie, who plays for Juventus in Italy’s Serie A. ‘Obviously it’s going to be in the back of my head somewhere, but that’s not our main focus.’” In addition to this, “‘We’re just trying to create a legacy of our own,’ he added. ‘Create a new cycle, a new way of approaching things.’” 

When asked what he’s going to do differently for the future games, Gregg Berhalter explains that he is going to stick to what he knows and not make any drastic changes that would jeopardize the team. For instance, “‘You saw some of the guys that played in the game in Austin and had a difficult time bringing the intensity that we needed. So we were hoping with this lineup that we were going to get that, get mobility, and we didn’t play our best. We had a number of guys that performed below expectations, and that’s the part of it. It’s a young group. It’s about learning, regrouping and going from there.’” 

All in all, Greg Berhalters' expectations for his team in the World Cup changed immensely throughout these last few months of U.S. Soccer. He, along with the rest of the USMNT coaches and players are striving for more positive results and to gain more points throughout the tournament. 

The USMNT has already shown a tremendous amount of grit and only they will be able to dictate how far they will go. Gregg Berhalter said, “These are extraordinary times, and we all need to continue to adjust. We have established a strong foundation in our group and we will deal with whatever comes our way. We look forward to receiving the updated schedule so we can plan accordingly.” In the end, he understands that it will be a challenge, but truly believes that this is the year the USMNT could make a great run in the 2022 CONCACAF World Cup!