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How Can the USMNT Reach the 2022 World Cup?

Scott Taetsch / Stringer

Published Mar 31, 2021

When the U.S. Men’s National Team begins their Concacaf World Cup qualifying run this fall only one thing will be on the minds of manager Gregg Berhalter and his players; avoiding a repeat of four years ago.

If you’re new to the soccer scene or just a bit confused about how World Cup qualifying works, we’ll get into that in a second, but first, let’s briefly revisit the events that occurred on October 10, 2017 down in Trinidad & Tobago.

The situation was quite simple for the United States, who were heading into their final WCQ match against Trinidad. A win or draw would’ve been good enough for the USMNT to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Instead, the Americans fell behind 2-0 inside the first half, including an own goal from American defender Omar Gonzalez.

Christian Pulisic managed to pull one back for the Yanks, but alas it wasn’t enough and the U.S.’ World Cup hopes were crushed before they even officially began. Given the success of the U.S. Women’s National Team and their various team accomplishments throughout the years, the reactions to the men missing the most-prestigious soccer tournament on the planet were unhinged and passionate.

Four years later and we can safely say that the USMNT is in a significantly better position than 2017 given the current roster of talents, many of whom find themselves playing for the biggest clubs in the world.

Sergiño Dest and Weston McKennie have the opportunity to play with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at Barcelona and Juventus, respectively. Meanwhile, Pulisic, goalkeeper Zach Steffen and Antonee Robinson all reside in the Premier League, which is widely considered the top division in global soccer.

Let’s get back to what the USMNT’s path to the World Cup next November looks like though. It starts this fall when the U.S. and seven other countries begin their pursuit of three-and-a-half spots to reach Qatar.

Now, you’re probably asking, ‘how can there be half a spot?’ and that’s a completely valid question. The top three finishers automatically qualify for the World Cup, while the fourth-place team in North/Central America has to face another nation from around the world that’s also vying for the opportunity to play in 2022.

In this instance, the fourth-place Concacaf finisher will play either a team from Asia, Oceania or South America which will be determined at a later date.

The USMNT should have lofty expectations given their current pool of players, so a fourth-place finish would be quite the disappointment and unexpected at this moment. Concacaf is currently in its first round of qualifying, which features various smaller nations like Puerto Rico and Cuba along with some mid-sized soccer countries like Canada, Guatemala and Panama.

The first round of Concacaf qualifying features six groups of five teams; making for 30 nations in all. From there, six group winners advance and will meet just one other nation in the next round for the right to advance to the Octagonal -- aka the final round of qualifying.

Meanwhile, the top five Concacaf nations in the latest FIFA world rankings received an automatic bye into the final round of qualifying. Those teams are Mexico (ranked 9th), USMNT (22nd), Jamaica (47th), Costa Rica (50th) and Honduras (64th).

Once all eight nations have been determined for the final round, the USMNT will face off against all seven of their opponents twice for a total of 14 matches; seven at home in the United States and seven away (depending on whether Concacaf deems travel safe due to COVID-19).

The USMNT has managed to reach the World Cup in seven of its last eight qualifying efforts, with the lone exception being 2018. Americans will be holding their breath until their home country clinches a spot, but it’s fair to say that this group is equipped to get the job done and secure a place in Qatar.