U.S. Men’s National Team Qualifies For 2022 World Cup Despite Loss

Even if the United States men’s national team did not qualify for the World Cup in their final CONCACAF qualification match Wednesday, you would be reading about it, considering it would have taken a colossal collapse for that to happen.

The USMNT would have qualified for the World Cup with pretty much any result against Costa Rica on Wednesday, so long as it was not a loss by at least six goals. The U.S. fell, 2-0, to the Ticos, and in doing so tied them in the standings 7-3-4. But thanks to a huge lead in goal differential, the U.S. is moving on.

“We expected (qualifying) to be a challenge and expected there to be a lot of ups and downs,” U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said, via Kyle Bonagura of ESPN. “A lot of trials and tribulations and we know we have a really young group going through this for the first time. We know how difficult CONCACAF is to qualify.”

The draw to determine groups for World Cup play is scheduled for Friday. The World Cup will be held in November in Qatar.