The U.S. men’s national team may be kicking off a title defense Friday night, but you’d have to forgive most for viewing its Concacaf Nations League matches in a different light. The 2022 World Cup is overshadowing and coloring everything the U.S. does, from club performances and moves to national team games between now and the conclusion of the U.S.’s run in Qatar later this year.
Gregg Berhalter has spent his time as manager cultivating the U.S. player pool, exploring his options and building out the depth chart, and as of now, a good chunk of the U.S.’s ideal roster for the competition is unofficially set. There are a couple of issues with that, though. First, there’s the fact that the U.S. has never had its ideal XI on the field together due to injuries and other absences and is bound for a curveball or two, and second, there are some key areas that are still very much up in the air.
With scant time together remaining before the U.S.’s roster for Qatar is set—two Nations League games in the next week and two September friendlies in Europe against Asian competition is all that’s left—each match left will get put under the microscope to a greater degree. Even a Friday-night bout vs. 170th-ranked Grenada and a match in El Salvador on June 14, where the U.S. began its World Cup qualifying journey, will take on greater meaning for a select grouping of players vying for tickets to Qatar.
