Every four years the world stops, with an event that is as great as the Super Bowl is to Americans, but on a global scale, with thousands of millions watching every pass of the ball, and of course, screaming in happiness with every goal. This year´s World Cup will be played in Qatar, a small western Asia nation, known for its impressive gas reserves, and also for being the birthplace of one of the most iconic Arab-speaking TV networks, Al Jazeera.
From November 20th till December 18th, 32 teams will battle in this year´s FIFA World Cup, a competition that usually takes place in June or July, but when it´s played in the lower hemisphere of Earth, the date moves closer to summer in that region. The same happened with the Brazilian World Cup back in 2014, but the last one in Russia was played from June to July.
The USA was one of the qualifiers of the North America Eliminatory Rounds played during the last years, with Canada, México, the US, and Costa Rica as qualifiers, the previous team via elimination matches. Even when the USA team was tied in points with Costa Rica, the goal difference helped them avoid falling in the always-feared eliminations matches.
A competitive group
In the draw to determine the groups where all the teams will be playing, the USA fell with the strong English team, one of the favorites, as the only winner of a World Cup in Group B. There´s a feeling of hope in the US team since the rest of the group is completed by Iran (one of the best teams in Asia), and the weaker Wales, so many think that there´s a good chance for the National Team to continue their race upwards in these WC soccer games, maybe even to quarter-finals.
Many experts concur that coach and ex-soccer player Gregg Berhalter has a great chance of bringing his team out of the group phase and up to the playoffs, where they will surely meet the best qualified of Group A. The chances are that they will be facing the powerful Dutch, another strong team that needs to be handled with care if the National Team doesn´t want to go down by many goals.
Having won the Concacaf in 2021 with excellent performance, the team reaches the World Cup in a great state, disputing some interesting friendly matches over the last months, including a tie against one of the strongest teams in Latin America: Uruguay. All hopes are deposited in “Captain America” Christian Pulisic, the 24 years old forward who has a great reputation playing in the British Chelsea and before that in the powerful Borussia Dortmund of Germany, where he started his career.
The first match of the team will be played on November the 21st at 2:00 PM ET at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Qatar, against Wales. Some speculate that the result of this match will definitely mark the pace for the National Team since a win in that game will surely bring them the air they need to face Iran in what some say will be a “final” to define the second place of the B Group, as England will most likely end up being the first qualified.
