The Official 2022 FIFA World Cup Thread

[TripleThreat]

YOUNG AMERICANS
The USMNT was by far the youngest team to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, garnering valuable experience going through the rigors of World Cup qualifying. Through 14 qualifiers, the USA Starting XI came in at an average of 23.82, almost two years younger than the next closest team, Ghana at 25.67. Together, the other 31 participating teams averaged a Starting XI age of 27.5 through qualifying, nearly four full years older than the U.S. Sources say this is one of the youngest, but most talented teams the U.S. has ever fielded. While they may not win the world cup this year, they may garner the experience needed to make a serious run on home soil in the year 2026 when the World Cup comes back to North America.

2022 USA World Cup Roster

FORWARDS
Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas)
Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders)
Christian Pulisic (Chelsea)
Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund)
Josh Sargent (Norwich City)
Timothy Weah (Lille)
Haji Wright (Antalyaspor)

MIDFIELDERS
Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United)
Kellyn Acosta (LAFC)
Tyler Adams (Leeds United)
Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo)
Weston McKennie (Juventus)
Yunus Musah (Valencia)
Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders)

DEFENDERS
Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic)
Sergiño Dest (AC Milan)
Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls)
Shaq Moore (Nashville SC)
Tim Ream (Fulham)
Antonee Robinson (Fulham)
Joe Scally (Borussia Monchengladbach)
DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami)
Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)

GOALKEEPERS
Ethan Horvath (Luton Town)
Sean Johnson (NYCFC)
Matt Turner (Arsenal)

[Hark Clunt]

dude, you can't say england "isn't relevant" in the football world as a US fan. c'mon.

[BWillie]

The USA will never be worse at soccer than they are now. Too many parents now wont let their kids play football due to the CTE. Less kids are playing baseball than ever before so all the little unathletic white kids will be turning to soccer.

[Womble]

Originally Posted by POND_OF_RED

No one in the existence of the world has ever seen England beat the US in a soccer match that meant something. It is nice knowing that we kept that alive at least. Wouldn’t want the jokes of Europe to have any ammo for shit talk against us. It’s so much better watching you squirm and try and prove your relevance to the rest of the world in this thread.

The fact of the matter is England is the only country to invent a sport and immediately have the rest of the world steal it right away from them. Could you imagine if the US had as many failures as England has had in basketball or football. Or if India hadn’t won a cricket World Cup for over half of a century. You haven’t been relevant to the footballing world your whole life Womble. Shut the **** up and stay in your lane. You’ll never be more than the joke of Europe when it comes to soccer. I wish I could be in the daycare your parents put you in to watch the England failure that’s coming. Would love to watch you cry little kid.

[TripleThreat]

Womble is clearly a little bitch. Joins an American football forum in the month that the world cup starts... is super active prior to the England vs USA match, once we tie, he comes back like a little whimpering puppy about how they played poorly. Dissapears, then comes back once we lose to Netherlands which this douchebag knows we played well, though he won't admit it..

TLDR: Womble's a bitch, no wonder our ancestors didn't want no part of your country.

[POND_OF_RED]

Originally Posted by Hark Clunt

dude, you can't say england "isn't relevant" in the football world as a US fan. c'mon.

They haven’t won a single tournament since 1966. The media makes them relevant. Their league buys the best players, but they have had about as much success as the US has in a lot of our lifetimes. I’m wondering how closely any of you follow soccer if you’re still believing England has a chance in this thing.

[Ocotillo]

Originally Posted by BWillie

Less kids are playing baseball than ever before so all the little unathletic white kids will be turning to soccer.

I think kids at the tee ball and Little League level are still playing baseball in high numbers, but they get weeded out quick by the travel-ball syndrome. The local town leagues, post-Little League, are non existent. If you're not on a travel ball team in your early teens, good luck making the high school baseball team.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by BWillie

The USA will never be worse at soccer than they are now. Too many parents now wont let their kids play football due to the CTE. Less kids are playing baseball than ever before so all the little unathletic white kids will be turning to soccer.

Maybe, but soccer just isn't our culture (and I have no idea why that happened) . The understanding of the game and its intricacies just isn't there, as evidenced by some of the participants in this thread. That's not an insult, it's just a fact. There's a lot more to it than athleticism.

[Womble]

Originally Posted by TripleThreat

Womble is clearly a little bitch. Joins an American football forum in the month that the world cup starts... is super active prior to the England vs USA match, once we tie, he comes back like a little whimpering puppy about how they played poorly. Dissapears, then comes back once we lose to Netherlands which this douchebag knows we played well, though he won't admit it..

TLDR: Womble's a bitch, no wonder our ancestors didn't want no part of your country.

Okay I'll give you some credit: you didn't deserve to be hammered. Still outplayed and still out. Just because you're delusional about your team doesn't mean I'm not wrong.

[Womble]

And I've said this all along: we are probably getting knocked out by France in the quarters. I'd put us as a 35% chance to get to the semi.

[Womble]

Originally Posted by Womble

And I've said this all along: we are probably getting knocked out by France in the quarters. I'd put us as a 35% chance to get to the semi.

Looks like 538 agree with me too..

[penguinz]

berhalter is the problem. Herm Edwards is a better tactical coach.

[Hark Clunt]

Originally Posted by POND_OF_RED

They haven’t won a single tournament since 1966. The media makes them relevant. Their league buys the best players, but they have had about as much success as the US has in a lot of our lifetimes. I’m wondering how closely any of you follow soccer if you’re still believing England has a chance in this thing.

the literally were in the european final last year and the semis in the prevous world cup. i'm not fan of them, but the idea that US fans can unironically talk shit about them is just so ****ing cringe.

[Eleazar]

Well, in the end I’d give the USA a B- on the World Cup. They achieved the primary objective of getting out of the group stage but they never looked particularly good doing it. They are greatly overmatched in talent against teams like the Netherlands, but against weaker teams it’s clear the US is limited by the lack of a goal scorer. The lack of depth is an issue and you’d have to say the manager might be one as well.

Overall, acceptable for a team lacking the talent to go any further but it also seems they could have done a little more in the games they played. Hopefully the team gets stronger before the next cup.

[TripleThreat]

My takes from the game:

1. We had a ton of missed opportunities, more than we had in the 3 games throughout the group stage which was promising but at the end of the day it was the same story, we aren't finishing these stories leading to the belief and rightfully so that we are missing a true #9.

2. Giovanni Reyna - He had a slow start, but you could tell with the ball at his feet, chances are coming. This is something Pulisic needs. With the USA having 3 goals and Pulisic being a part of all 3 with 2 assists and 1 goal, we clearly need another player who can provide another threat on the attacking third of the field. Shuffling from Aarrnson, to Seargant, to Wright, and then finally coming to Reyna is mind boggling.

3. Defense - We were exposed tonight. We were all shocked with the play of Tim Ream, but it goes to show how exposed we are on the back line. Dest/Robinson are great, and play their roles accordingly. Great speed, great runs, etc. Zimmerman/Ream were awful and their replacements especially for game 3 weren't much better. Very VERY basic. We won't see Tim Ream in 2026, and TBH, I don't want to see Zimmerman either. He doesn't seem ready to play against these other top players at all. It's almost like playing damage control. Our midfielders and outside backs are making up for our centerbacks and the Netherlands exposed that today. Scully when?

4. Midfield - Obviously this is our strong point and the bread and butter of our team as all of our top talent is centered around this part of the field. I don't have any concerns issues with how our midfield played throughout the entire tournament including tonight. The Netherlands did NOT allow us the midfield we simply took it from them. You could see the Netherlands pushing into Ream and Zimmerman but the moment the ball got to one of our midfielders, we were pressing immediately.

5. Forwards/3rd - Clearly we are missing a true #9, there's no way around this. Reyna played nice up top but that isn't his true role and we need to find a way to allow him to take the role of a Messi. Pulisic and Reyna need a true #9. Think for a moment, Reyna and Pulisic behind Alitdore & donovan in their primes. The moment you think of that type of formation you probably start touching yourself. Mbappe took over at the age of 19 in France, you either have it or you don't. We need to go back to the pool of strikers and start looking at some other players to bring in for 2026.

6. Head Coach/Greg - I don't know what's going on with this man... The substitutions all tournament long were suspect. Wright coming in for this game was luducrious. Did he score the goal? I guess you could call it that, it was a one in a million flick. His next 2 chances showed why he's slow. People mistake him for not being a hard worker but that's really not the case - when he's on the field with other top talent, his speed is exposed. Greg needs to dig deep and find a place for Reyna and Scully.

7. Replacements for 2026 - Zimmerman & Ream are obvious candidates for who need's to be replaced. We also need to find a #9....... Turner,Dest,Robinson,Adams,Mckenne,Pulisic,Weah, Reyna, Musah should be our 9/11 of our starting players for 2026. That leaves 2 positions open while needing to replace 3 positions #9 and 2 CBs. If we need to change our formation so be it however this roster will all be around the age of 26 for the year 2026 which is promising.

[BWillie]