What is at Stake?
Let’s zoom out and look at the bigger picture here. The United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) is aiming to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. With one three-game window remaining, the U.S. must finish within the top-three of the region in order to secure an automatic bid. If the team finishes fourth, they must play a home-and-home two-game competition versus New Zealand for the final spot. As of Feb. 28, the U.S. sits No. 2 in the CONCACAF region — four points behind leader Canada, tied with Mexico, and four points ahead of Panama.
This article will be written from the viewpoint that the U.S. ultimately makes it to Qatar — the site of this winter’s World Cup. We’re going to dive into the best possible roster we can bring to ‘the big dance’ as of this point. With nearly an entire year until the World Cup starts in late November, there are players who will invariably emerge/pop up during the time span. However for the sake of this exercise, we’ll not try to project too greatly into the future.
Without further adieu, this will be the 23-man group tasked with representing the U.S. in this global competition for the first time since 2014.
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