The United States Men’s National Team has worked for more than four years to return to World Cup competition after failing to make the grade in 2018.
On Monday, the U.S. team will face off against the first of its group competitors in the opening round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The U.S. team will face off against Wales to close out the first day of the Group B competition.
The U.S. team will already know the outcome of the England vs. Iran game being played earlier in the day. England is considered the favorite in Group B, though little is known about the Iranian national team. Wales, one of four “Home Nations” teams, including Scotland, Ireland, and England, has a history that dates to 1876.
Wales is entering its first World Cup appearance since 1986 after securing a spot with a 1-0 victory over Ukraine during the qualification phase of the World Cup back in June. Wales has failed to win since that game and went 0-4-1 in international friendlies. The lone draw came against Belgium.
The U.S. team has had similar struggles in recent months after qualifying for the World Cup competition. The US team last won on June 10 in a CONCACAF Nations League match against Grenada. The US side won that match 5-0 but finished the international friendlies with a 2-0 loss to Japan and a 0-0 draw against Saudia Arabia.
The U.S. team is led by head coach Gregg Berhalter, who has assembled a unit consisting of the best of Major League Soccer and European Leagues. The roster for the team has been in flux over the last several weeks as final decisions were made. Several of the expected stars for this team did not make the cut, while many young players will be on the world’s biggest pitch for the first time, including Jesus Ferreira, who led FC Dallas with 18 goals this season.
Rob Page leads the Wales side as head coach, and Gareth Bale is on the pitch, fresh off winning the MLS Championship with LAFC. The 33-year-old Welsh player helped Los Angeles knock out Philadelphia Union to win the MLS Cup with an overtime goal to tie the game after the Union took its first lead of the match. Bale was expected to be a major signing for LAFC in 2022 but saw only limited action during the regular season.
Oddsmakers see this match as a back-and-forth contest that will likely end in a draw. Should either of the teams win in the first match, they will virtually be assured of a spot in the Final 16 round that begins after the initial group competition. The two teams most recently faced off in 2020, a game that ended in a draw and featured several players not part of the 2022 team rosters for both sides.
Wales and USA begin play at 1 p.m. CT from Al Rayyan Stadium in Qatar. The U.S. team is ranked third in the group and 24th overall by CBS Sports, while Wales is currently sitting at the fourth rank in the group, but has a higher overall ranking at 20th – which is one spot higher than Iran but significantly behind group leader England, ranked six overall.