2022 World Cup: Country profile – United States

Factfile on the United States who are in World Cup Group B:

Best World Cup performance: Third place in 1930.

Other honours: CONCACAF Championship/Gold Cup winners in 1991, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2017, 2021; CONCACAF Nations League winners in 2019-20.

FIFA ranking: 16th

How they qualified: The United States finished third in the CONCACAF zone final qualifying standings, behind Canada and Mexico.

Coach: Gregg Berhalter, 49, was appointed head coach in 2018 in the wake of the US’s failure to qualify for the Russia World Cup. A former US international defender, Berhalter was a key member of the squad who reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea and was also an unused squad member at the 2006 World Cup. Berhalter went into coaching in 2011 after retiring as a player, joining the backroom staff at the Los Angeles Galaxy. He spent two years at Swedish club Hammarby IF before taking over as Columbus Crew coach in 2013.

Key player: Christian Pulisic

If the US upset the odds and progress beyond the group stage in Qatar, the chances are that Pulisic will have had a lot to do with it. The 24-year-old Chelsea star has consistently been the Americans’ most important player in recent years, one of the few individuals capable of producing game-changing moments on the biggest stage. The man known as “Captain America” was a crucial contributor during the US qualification campaign, which included a hat-trick against Panama in March.

Expectations and key players according to Massimiliano Cristina, MLS Soccer Italia:

Expectations:

“There are a lot of questions surrounding this United States team ahead of this World Cup in Qatar. They arrive to this tournament at the back of a lacklustre qualification campaign, finishing behind neighbours Canada which was not digested well by the supporters. American football is in the process of making their national team a competitive one ahead of the home edition of 2026. Greg Berhalter’s picks are important for their objective, which primarily to qualify from this group which is not easy.”

Key players:

“One of the players to keep an eye on is Valencia’s Yunus Musah who can make the difference in this side. Obviously, there are other talents who are already well-know such as Christian Pulisic, Giovanni Reyna and Brendan Aaronson. In addition to them, the experience of Weston McKennie of Juventus is highly essential to this team as well.”

Group fixtures

November 21: USA v Wales

November 25: England v USA

November 29: Iran v USA

Squad

Goalkeepers: Ethan Horvath (Luton Town), Sean Johnson (New York City FC), Matt Turner (Arsenal).

Defenders: Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Sergino Dest (AC Milan), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Shaq Moore (Nashville SC), Tim Ream (Fulham), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC).

Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Kellyn Acosta (Los Angeles FC), Tyler Adams (Leeds United), Luca de ka Torre (Celta de Vigo), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders).

Forwards: Jesus Ferreira (FC Dallas), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Josh Sargent (Norwich City), Tim Weah (Lille), Haji Wright (Antalyaspor).