After a wait of nearly four years, the USMNT has embarked on the arduous journey of becoming one of the 32 teams earning the right to compete in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Here are Five Things to Know about the process the USA and the rest of Concacaf final round participants will undertake in order to advance to Qatar ’22: THE GLOBAL FRAMEWORK Concacaf is one of six regional confederations which sends participants to the World Cup. FIFA determines how many spots each confederation gets in the 32-team tournament, and from there each organizes its own qualifying competition. The only team which gains automatic entry is the host, in this case Qatar. Since the 2006 edition of the tournament, Concacaf receives 3.5 spots – the top three finishers receive automatic berths, while the fourth-place team competes in an Intercontinental Playoff against an opponent from either the AFC (Asia), CONMEBOL (South America) or Oceania (South Pacific) which will take place in June of 2022.
THE CONCACAF FORMAT Concacaf has 35 FIFA-affiliated member associations eligible to participate in the World Cup. Under a format revamped in part due to the global pandemic, there are a total of three rounds of competition. At the start, the top five highest ranked Concacaf teams received an automatic place in the Final Round – Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Honduras and Jamaica. In Round 1, teams ranked 6-35 were drawn into six groups of five and played a single round-robin matches (two home and two away), with group winners qualifying for the second round. In Round 2, the six first round group winners played in a two-legged home-and-away series. The three winners – Canada, El Salvador and Panama emerged to join the other five teams in the final round. With a total of eight teams – otherwise known as The Octagonal - the Final Round consists of 14 matches (seven home and seven away). Previously, only six teams made the Final Round, which means there are two additional participants competing for the same number of spots. THE QUALIFYING JOURNEY Again due to the global pandemic, a process that was meant to begin in September 2020 was forced to kick off one year later in September 2021. As a result, teams are now in the midst of a grueling schedule that features 14 matches in a seven-month span (September 2021 to March 2022).
In a normal qualifying campaign, two matches would be played in a 10-day window, typically in a Friday-Tuesday cadence. This time around, due to the condensed format there will four ‘triple dates’ in which three matches will be played in a seven-day span, following a Thursday-Sunday-Wednesday cadence. The only exception is the November window, during which only two matches will be played. With wins worth three points and draws worth one, the general rule of thumb for successful qualification out of Concacaf is to win at home and draw on the road. If a team were to win all seven of its home matches, it would be right on the doorstep of World Cup qualification and depending on other results, could even end up in the World Cup without picking up any points on the road. That said, away results are important and where the difference can be made up. While a draw on the road yields one point for both teams, it also means the road team has taken two valuable points away from the hosts. While not as common, road wins are incredibly valuable in the qualification process as the away team picks up all three points and serves a serious blow to the home side after denying them all three points. RECAPPING THE WCQ JOURNEY The USMNT opened the final round of 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying in September, with a challenging three-match set away to El Salvador (Sept. 2), home against Canada (Sept. 5) and back on the road at Honduras (Sept. 8).
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Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa decided to add his own fuel to the fire in the lead up, suggesting that his team was the “mirror” in which the USMNT wanted to see itself. Christian Pulisic had a message of his own to deliver , when in the 74th minute he headed home an expertly delivered cross from Tim Weah to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead. During the ensuing celebration Pulisic lifted his t-shirt to reveal his response: “Man in the Mirror.” When Weston McKennie beat Ochoa again in the 85th minute to double the lead, a familiar and heart-warming chant rang out through the stadium: “ Dos a Cero! Dos a Cero!” The final whistle blew, and as Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” played, the U.S. players celebrated another historic victory against El Trí.
The job is never done until it’s done, and a dangerous Jamaican team awaited in Kingston four days later. With an average age of 22 years, 341 days, the USMNT lineup was the second youngest to start in a World Cup Qualifying match. While the U.S. got off to a promising start with the goal by Jamaican-American international Tim Weah in the 11th minute, Michail Antonio scored on a world-class banger from distance to level halfway through the first half. Neither side were able to break the deadlock, and the United States left Independence Park with an important point on the road. Following the results from the other matches, the USMNT ended 2021 in second place in the Octagonal standings with six games remaining.
THE RULES Here are some basic rules of competition to keep track of during the Final Round While teams can travel with as many players as they choose, a total of 23 players can be included on a matchday roster There is no ‘set’ roster for World Cup Qualifying, so teams can change players from game to game. Up to five substitutions can be made in any match A player who receives individual yellow cards in two separate matches will be suspended for the following match If a match is tied after regulation time, it will end in a draw and each team will receive a point VAR will not be used during the Final Round At the end of the 14-match set in March 2022, the top three teams will automatically qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, while the fourth-place finisher will go into a two-leg home-and-away Intercontinental Playoff with a team from another region during the June international window for the right to play in Qatar.SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (March 30, 2022) – The U.S. Men’s National Team has qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar after a 2-0 loss at Costa Rica on the final matchday of Concacaf World Cup qualifying. With the result, the U.S. finishes third in the Octagonal standings tied with Costa Rica on 25 points but well ahead in goal differential in the final table and thus clinching one of the confederation’s three automatic berths.
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The USA, Canada and Mexico earned Concacaf’s three automatic berths while Costa Rica will face New Zealand in a one-game playoff for a final World Cup spot.
Tonight’s match was a culmination of a condensed and highly challenging seven-month World Cup qualifying campaign that featured 14 matches – seven home and seven away. The USA’s starting lineups during those games averaged 23 years, 302 days, which is the youngest in team history for a qualifying cycle.
The USMNT will learn its path at the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Friday at the Final Draw for the tournament in Doha, Qatar (Noon ET on FS1, Telemundo). The USA will return to action during the June international window, which will include the first matches of the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League.
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Heading into the match, the U.S. needed a win, draw or a loss by no more than six goals against Los Ticos to earn a spot at Qatar 2022. Despite the loss, the USMNT, which hasn’t earned a point during World Cup qualifying in Costa Rica since 1985 -- before every player on the current U.S. roster was born --- got the job done with a performance that was perhaps not reflective of the final result.
Costa Rica held out a number of its regular starters who were carrying a yellow card to avoid possible suspensions for the all-important World Cup playoff, but Los Ticos came up with a strong defensive effort, making things difficult for the U.S. in front of goal. Many of the USA’s best chances came on set play opportunities – the Americans had 12 corner kicks to Costa Rica’s three – and defender Miles Robinson almost had the game’s opening goal in the eighth minute, striking a volley that was well-saved by Costa Rica’s world class goalkeeper, Keilor Navas.
A few minutes later, center forward Ricardo Pepi spearheaded another dangerous look, connecting with winger Tim Weah on the run down the right side and he ripped a shot on goal that was slapped away by the veteran Navas. Los Ticos were able to jump on a few U.S. mistakes to
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Heading into the match, the U.S. needed a win, draw or a loss by no more than six goals against Los Ticos to earn a spot at Qatar 2022. Despite the loss, the USMNT, which hasn’t earned a point during World Cup qualifying in Costa Rica since 1985 -- before every player on the current U.S. roster was born --- got the job done with a performance that was perhaps not reflective of the final result.
Costa Rica held out a number of its regular starters who were carrying a yellow card to avoid possible suspensions for the all-important World Cup playoff, but Los Ticos came up with a strong defensive effort, making things difficult for the U.S. in front of goal. Many of the USA’s best chances came on set play opportunities – the Americans had 12 corner kicks to Costa Rica’s three – and defender Miles Robinson almost had the game’s opening goal in the eighth minute, striking a volley that was well-saved by Costa Rica’s world class goalkeeper, Keilor Navas.
A few minutes later, center forward Ricardo Pepi spearheaded another dangerous look, connecting with winger Tim Weah on the run down the right side and he ripped a shot on goal that was slapped away by the veteran Navas. Los Ticos were able to jump on a few U.S. mistakes to
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