The U.S. men’s national team’s return to the World Cup, which takes place this November and December in Qatar, will feature a challenging group stage rich in rematches and compelling narrative. The Americans were placed in Group B during Friday’s draw and will face England, Iran and a European qualifier still to be determined.
The U.S. will kick off its 11th World Cup and first since 2014 on Nov. 21 against either Wales, Scotland or Ukraine. Coach Gregg Berhalter’s team, which is the youngest to qualify for the tournament, then will play England in the third World Cup clash between the closely linked nations. The Americans will conclude the first round with a match against geopolitical rival Iran, which eliminated the U.S. from the 1998 tournament.
The exact World Cup schedule normally is decided by the draw, but FIFA was waiting for the specific matchups to be determined before selecting stadiums and kickoff times in Qatar.
For the second time, FIFA grouped the four draw pots by national team ranking (barring three playoff winners in pot No. 4) and not by region or geography. The old system, where the quality in a given pot could vary significantly, was more likely to produce a genuine “Group of Death” than the current, more balanced approach. As a result of its place at No. 15 in FIFA’s latest ranking released Thursday, the U.S. was placed in pot No. 2 along with 2018 runner-up Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Switzerland and Uruguay.
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After FIFA’s customary droning, dancing and self-congratulation, German World Cup winner and former MetroStar Lothar Matthäus helped set the Americans’ World Cup path by placing them into Group B, setting up a showdown with England that’s surely going to generate considerable hype. Several U.S. players are at English clubs, including star forward Christian Pulisic (Chelsea); U.K.-born left back revelation Antonee Robinson (Fulham); goalkeepers Zack Steffen (Manchester City), Ethan Horvath (Nottingham Forest) and Matt Turner (joining Arsenal this summer); and forward Josh Sargent (Norwich City).
Iran, the highest-ranked team from Asia, came next, followed by the remaining UEFA playoff winner. The qualifying path that will produce the Americans’ opening World Cup opponent wasn’t completed this week because of the postponement of the Scotland-Ukraine semifinal necessitated by the Russian invasion. That game now is scheduled for June in Glasgow, with the winner traveling to Cardiff to play Wales for the ticket to Qatar.
In its six modern-era World Cups (since 1990), the U.S. has advanced from the group stage three times, finishing first once (2010).
It has experienced both ends of the draw’s spectrum of difficulty in recent appearances. In 2010, the Americans were sent to one of the most forgiving World Cup quartets possible: a group that featured a pedestrian England side that was the lowest ranked among the top seeds (besides host South Africa); Slovenia, which was by far the lowest-ranked European team; and Algeria, which was back in the World Cup for the first time in 24 years.
Four years later in Brazil, draw karma delivered the U.S. to the “Group of Death,” a brutal assignment that featured arch-nemesis Ghana, a Portuguese side featuring prime Cristiano Ronaldo and eventual champion Germany.
Naturally, both groups came down to the wire and were decided by the smallest of margins. In 2010, Landon Donovan’s iconic stoppage-time goal against Algeria lifted the U.S. from a flight home to first place. And despite being outplayed for the majority of the first round four years later, the opportunistic Americans took advantage of John Brooks’s late winner against the Black Stars and Portugal’s implosion against Germany to finish second on goal difference.
Before he even saw Friday’s outcome, Berhalter said advancing to the knockout rounds was both the aim and the standard for his young but ambitious team. As the the No. 2 seed in its group, the U.S. can reasonably set that goal.
“The starting point is getting out of the group. And once you do that, it’s tournament time. It’s knockout, single-elimination, so anything can happen,” Berhalter said Thursday morning before boarding his flight to Qatar.
Berhalter was a member of the 2002 U.S. team that progressed to the World Cup quarterfinals and the ’06 squad that went winless.
“Your focus becomes much more narrow, and it’s about every single point, every single game, every single goal you give up or you score. That’s what the World Cup is about. The goal starts off for every team is just to get out of the group,” he said. “You see time and time again top teams not getting out of their group. It has to be a priority for any team to get out of your group and go from there. See who you play next. Prepare to beat that team. And that’s where it becomes fun and I think the group will be ready for it.”
Although the World Cup kicks off in just under eight months, the amount of time that Berhalter and the U.S. will have to prepare is minimal. There are two international windows on the FIFA calendar between now and the tournament opener, and, unless U.S. Soccer is able to jam an ad-hoc friendly into the brief buildup to the tournament, there will be time for only six more games. Four will be staged in early June. Two will come against regional foes as part of the second edition of the Concacaf Nations League (the draw is Monday) and two will be friendlies. The second window is in late September and will comprise two more friendlies.
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“It’s less-than-ideal preparation in terms of the time we’re going to have, but every team is going to do the same thing. So we’ll be able to deal with it just like everybody else,” Berhalter said, adding that he’s hoping to play against teams from around the world in order to “just continue to get experience with different styles of play, different ways to approach the game and just see different opponents as we prepare for the World Cup.”
Because of the pandemic, the compressed qualifying schedule and the reduction of friendlies that’s coincided with the introduction of the Concacaf and UEFA Nations Leagues, the U.S. doesn’t have much experience playing teams from beyond its backyard. In the 32 games they’ve played since the start of 2020, just five have been against countries from outside Concacaf. By the time June rolls around, the U.S. will have played only twice against nations from the rest of the world in the previous year—the Gold Cup semifinal against Qatar last July and then the December friendly against a very inexperienced squad from Bosnia-Herzegovina. The U.S. drew Wales, 0-0, in a November ’20 friendly.
The 2022–23 UEFA Nations League is scheduled across both upcoming international windows, which might make scheduling a European opponent difficult.
“The June window, where we’ll play four games, is going to be an important part of our preparation—as is September, where we’ll play two games. Hopefully, we’re trying to get games in Europe in September, but that’s not finalized yet,” Berhalter said Thursday.
Clubs are required to release players for the World Cup by Nov. 14. The MLS season concludes Nov. 5, and Berhalter said a short camp for domestic players is being considered before the group gathers in Qatar.
Here’s a look at the Americans’ confirmed and potential World Cup opponents.
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ENGLAND
Match Date: Nov. 25, 2022
FIFA Rank: 5
Qualification: Won UEFA Group I at 8-0-2.
World Cup Highlights: Champions in 1966, fourth place in ’90, 2018.
History vs. U.S.: England holds an 8-2-1 all-time advantage over the U.S., but it’s failed to win either of the two World Cup meetings between the sides. The Americans stunned favored England, 1–0, in the 1950 tournament behind Joe Gaetjens’ legendary header, then earned a 1–1 draw in 2010 when Clint Dempsey erased an early England goal with his bouncing long-range effort.
Senior honors: 1966 World Cup champions.
IRAN
Match Date: Nov. 29, 2002
FIFA Rank: 21
Qualification: Won AFC Group E at 6-2-0 and then Group A at 8-1-1.
World Cup Highlights: Six group-stage appearances.
History vs. U.S.: Iran is 1-0-1 all-time against the U.S., with the win coming famously at the 1998 World Cup. Iran sealed the Americans’ elimination in the second game of the group stage with a 2–1 win in Lyon.
Senior honors: 1968, ’72, ’76 Asian champions.
WALES/SCOTLAND/UKRAINE
Match Date: Nov. 21, 2022
FIFA Rank: Wales 18, Ukraine 27, Scotland 39
Qualification: UEFA playoff winner.
World Cup Highlights: Wales 1958 quarterfinals, Scotland eight group-stage appearances, Ukraine 2006 quarterfinals.
History vs. U.S.: U.S. is 1-0-1 all-time vs. Wales, 2-3-3 vs. Scotland and 0-3-1 vs. Ukraine. All games have been friendlies.
