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san jose, costa rica – the united states men’s soccer team has qualified for the 2022 world cup, securing its place in the tournament in qatar after missing the 2018 edition in russia.
in what was largely a formality, the u.s. they lost 2-0 to costa rica on wednesday, but still managed to secure one of concacaf’s three automatic berths, along with group winner canada and rival mexico.
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The United States, which entered Wednesday’s game at the national stadium needing only to avoid a loss of six goals or more to earn its ticket, finished the 14-game qualifying cycle with a record seven wins, three losses and four draws for 25 points that total came from the us. Three points behind Canada and Mexico, and level with Costa Rica, with just a +11 goal differential ensuring the Americans finished ahead of the hosts on Wednesday (+5).
Although the team was inconsistent at times during qualifying, they remained in a strong position throughout the cycle.
“It’s amazing what this group of guys has been able to do these last seven months,” head coach Gregg Berhalter said after taking the job Wednesday. “I have really seen the team grow and this is a great achievement. We are looking forward to the world cup.”
berhalter was part of the us. team that reached the quarterfinals at the 2002 world cup, where they lost to germany. he was also part of their 2006 world cup squad but did not play any matches as he was eliminated in the group stage.
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“I don’t think I’ve sunk in yet,” he said, when asked about leading the team to the world cup as a coach. “Being in a world cup as a player is one of the most special things you can do. Now doing it as a coach with this group of players is something special.”
berhalter used what amounted to a first-choice lineup, while costa rica played a mostly rotated team due to having nine players on yellow cards ahead of a possible playoff, which will now take place in qatar against the winners from oceania, new zealand.
the alleged talent discrepancy didn’t matter.
despite the us Controlling play for most of the game, Juan Vargas (51st minute) and Anthony Contreras (59th minute) seized their chances to put Costa Rica up 2-0 early in the second half. but needing four more to ensure qualification and ship to the us. uu. to the intercontinental playoff turned out to be too difficult.
Although only four players on the current roster were with the team when it missed the 2018 World Cup, the group has had to correct that flaw. none more than christian pulisic, chelsea’s star striker.
“I think christian has always felt that responsibility,” midfielder tyler adams said Tuesday.
“growing up as kind of a golden child in [this] generation of us soccer, people had expectations of him. to be honest with you, he’s treated them better than anyone really would. in every situation, you are expected to do things that people like [lionel] messi and [cristiano] ronaldo are supposed to do.
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“it’s supposed to take us to the world cup.”
and while that pressure seemed to get to pulisic at times during qualifying, his hat-trick against panama on sunday came in usa’s most momentous game. uu. he had played in years. pulisic finished the cycle with five goals, the best record of the team. At 23, Pulisic’s 12 goals in the past two qualifying cycles rank fourth all-time in the United States. story.
qualification wasn’t the only goal for the us. was chasing, right back DeAndre Yedlin said Tuesday.
“I think at this point, I wouldn’t say it’s the ultimate goal, I think the ultimate goal is obviously to win a world cup,” he said. “But there are steps you have to take to get there and one of the big steps is qualifying for the world cup.”
the united states will be placed in pot 2 for the draw that will decide the eight groups of four teams, which will take place on Friday at noon in doha, qatar.
Only three teams remain to be determined in the 32-sided field. In a pair of one-game qualifiers in Qatar in June, Costa Rica will play New Zealand while Peru will play either Australia or the United Arab Emirates.
the final place will belong to the winner of wales vs. scotland/ukraine. the playoff match between scotland and ukraine originally scheduled for march 24 was postponed following russia’s invasion of ukraine and has not been rescheduled.
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