A look at the country’s demographics, football history and its squad status prior to the Qatar World Cup 2022.
Number of inhabitants: approx. 330 million.
Continent: North America
Confederation: CONCACAF
National Football Association: USSF
Number of members: around 4,000,000. (1.2% of total population)
International trophies won: 18x CONCACAF Gold Cup, 1x CONCACAF Nations League
Best World Cup result: Semi-finals in 1930.
Key Players
In the past: Cobi Jones, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Claudio Reyna, Tim Howard, Jozy Altidore.
Key current players: Pulisic, Reyna, Adams, McKennie, Aaronson.
Coach, formation and possible lineup
Coach: Gregg Berhalter. (since 2018)
Typical formation: 4-3-3
Possible lineup:
- GK: Matt Turner (Arsenal) 28
- LB: Antonee Robinson (Fulham) 25
- RB: Joe Scally (Mönchengladbach) 19
- LCB: Walker Zimmerman (Nashville) 29
- RCB: Aaron Long (NY Red Bulls) 30
- CM: Tyler Adams (Leeds) 23
- CM: Weston McKennie (Juventus) 24
- RW: Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) 24
- LW: Giovanni Reyna (Dortmund) 19
- ACM: Brendan Aaronson (Leeds) 21
- ST: Jordan (Union Berlin) 26
Age Report
Players aged 25 or under in the current lineup: 7
Players aged 32 or over in the current lineup: 0
No players in this lineup will (most likely) be playing their last World Cup this year.
There are 7 players in this lineup that can play (at least) two more: Robinson, Scally, Adams, McKennie, Pulisic, Reyna and Aaronson.
The remaining 4 players could play in one (or two in cases of Turner and Jordan) more World Cups.
Youngest player: Joe Scally, born 31 December 2002 (19)
Oldest player: Aaron Long, born 12 October 1992 (30)
Average squad age: 24.3
World Cup Qatar – Group B
Fixtures:
Monday 21 November USA vs Wales
Friday 25 November England vs USA
Tuesday 29 November Iran vs USA
Our view:
One only has to look at the Olympic medal count to see what a sports-centered country the USA is. When it comes to football (soccer) though, there is some disadvantage to overcome compared to the rest of the world. Slowly but surely though the USA is catching up, and it won’t be long before they aim for the number one spot in the world’s most popular sport, of that I’m sure. In order for this to happen though, they need some success in the World Cup to spark additional interest at home. One thing that might hold them back is the lack of high level experience of their coach. Though I do see them progressing past the group stage.
