The moment U.S. soccer fans have been dreading eagerly awaiting for four years is finally here. The U.S. men’s national team competes in World Cup qualifying this fall, and fans are both excited by the squad’s results this summer and nervous about getting their hearts broken again. Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch USMNT World Cup qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.
Euro 2020 finalists England pushed world champions France out of the top three in world soccer body FIFA's latest men's soccer rankings published on Thursday.
Belgium remained the top ranked side, followed by Brazil. European champions Italy, on a record unbeaten international run of 37 matches, are fifth with Argentina sixth.
Third place equals England's highest ranking since 2012. Gareth Southgate's side lost on penalties to Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley in July and were World Cup semifinalists in Russia in 2018. France went out of Euro 2020 in the Round of 16.
Futsal’s importance to developing great footballers has never been a secret.
Brazil is the standard-bearer of the hard court game that favors ball control, passing in tight spaces and creativity over any sort of physical advantage. Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Neymar, Pelé and Philipe Coutinho all played extensively in their youth, and what they learned and practiced on the court translated beautifully onto the pitch.
The United States Women's National Team Players Association (USWNTPA) on Wednesday labeled the U.S. Soccer Federation's offer of identical contract proposals for both the men's and women's teams as a nothing more than a publicity stunt.
The U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) announced its offer on Tuesday as part of an effort it said was to align the women's and men's national teams under one collective bargaining agreement.
With Villarreal and Atalanta lying in wait, Manchester United travelled to Swiss Super League champion Young Boys knowing that three points was vital against the side 30 places beneath them in UEFA’s club coefficient.
All eyes were on Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s team after the manager again fielded the exciting quartet of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho and Paul Pogba that’d decimated Newcastle on Saturday.
Ricardo Pepi scored his team-leading 12th goal to help host FC Dallas record a 1-1 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday in Frisco, Texas.
Pepi returned to action after missing FC Dallas' last match while participating with the United States Men's National Team for World Cup qualifying. The 18-year-old homegrown player made quite the impact after his diving header off Justin Che's cross beat a diving JT Marcinkowski to forge a 1-1 tie.
Pepi has scored four goals in his last three MLS matches.
Whew. That was a close one. Facing the prospect of two points from its opening three World Cup qualifiers, the USMNT rallied for a big 4-1 win on Wednesday night in Honduras, salvaging a decent showing over the September international window. It wasn’t great, but the Americans avoided disaster, which makes our USMNT player ratings (and coach rating) all the spicier.
The USMNT played one of its worst opening 45 minutes in the modern era on Wednesday night in Honduras, and then followed that up with one of the greatest second halfs we've ever seen. Both were largely down to the choices of Gregg Berhalter, and while we should ultimately value and treasure the second 45, we shouldn't immediately forget about the first half.
Panic meters were reaching Cuova levels on Wednesday night in San Pedro Sula. The U.S. trailed Honduras at halftime and it looked like the Americans were headed toward a dismal two points from their first three World Cup qualifiers. Gregg Berhalter made three halftime changes, somewhat surprisingly leaving on qualifying novices Ricardo Pepi and James Sands.
Ricardo Pepi repaid the faith.
Will the US qualify for the World Cup? One month ago, even the most pessimistic of USMNT fans would begrudgingly say this squad will qualify for Qatar 2022.
Fast forward to the afternoon of Sept. 8 and there’s a thick fog of anxiety and nervousness in the air ahead of the American’s clash against Honduras.
