The 2022 FIFA World Cup advances in Qatar with hail and the future of the U.S. is unpredictable.
The US team’s first appearance against Wales ended in a 1-1 draw. This opening match was a crucial one and further hopes are tangled. A win in this match would have secured the U.S. men’s national team an emerging from the group stage.
The U.S. and Wales came face to face for the first time ever in the World Cup. The game was at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan.
The US is currently holding the 3rd position in the Group B table with 0 points. Group B holds 15 points in average group rankings and this is the highest FIFA rankings which also makes it the most fierce group. The group is led by England with 3 points.
The team had an initial lead of 1-0 over Wales with Timothy Weah’s goal in the 36th minute. Weah scored a goal from the pass of Christian Pulisic.
It appeared that the team was heading to victory after their first-half goal.
After scoring, young Weah ran towards the fans with extended arms and slid on his knees. He then raised both hands upwards and blew a kiss to the heavens.
The winning hopes faded with the goal of the Wales Captain, Gareth Bale. He converted a penalty kick to a goal in the 82nd minute. This happened because the U.S. defender Walker Zimmerman fouled Bale in the box which resulted in the penalty kick.
The USMNT seemed to soar to victory after failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. The team roster consists of everyone, but one appearing for the first time in the World Cup. It is also one of the youngest squads in the entire Qatar World Cup.
The team led by Tyler Adams under Coach Gregg Berhalter is tied with Ecuador for the second youngest in the Winter World Cup. The team has a mean age of 24. Five of the forward players in the attacking line are only 22 or younger.
Captain Tyler Adams is 23, Timothy Weah is 22, and Christian Pulisic is 24. Yunus Musah is 19, the youngest American to play a World Cup match. Adams is the youngest American World Cup team captain. Tim Waeh is the second youngest in the whole tournament. He is also the son of George Weah, a former FIFA player of the year and the present President of Liberia.
The young stars are no new faces but familiar ones of popular European leagues playing at high levels. Pulisic is the winger with Chelsea and Adams is a midfielder for Leeds United.
Coach Gregg Berhalter in a post-game interview said that we lost a little bit of power, it was a hard-fought game and we left everything out there.
Next for the United States is the match against England on Friday. On the same day, Wales is facing Iran. Following would be a match between USA and Iran where Wales would face England on the same day.
England has the dominant position in the Group B rankings and left for the second position in the U.S., Wales, and Iran.
Winners of Group B would advance to play runners-up of Group A on December 4 in Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor. The runners-up of Group B would advance to play the winners of Group A.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is the first-ever tournament in the Middle East. It’s also the inaugural Winter World Cup. The soccer tournament runs on a schedule from Nov 20 – Dec 18, 2022. There are 32 teams for the glorious Cup.
A semi-automated offside technology that will reduce VAR offline decisions from 70 to 25 seconds has been approved by FIFA. Twelve multi-tracking cameras are mounted on the roof of each Stadium to track the ball and each player. This is the most expensive world cup ever costing Qatar about $220 billion.
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