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Written by Newspaper Staff Reporter Derek Oliveros
The United States Men's National Team, USMNT, are looking to solidify a spot in the upcoming 2022 World Cup being held in Qatar, and the final three matches of the qualifying round are being played from March 24th to the 30th.
The CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying is played in a round-robin tournament where each team plays everyone twice and the top three teams qualify for the World Cup and fourth place enters a play-in tournament. After eleven games, the USMNT sits second in the table. The USMNT has the same number of points as Mexico but beats them out for second due to having a higher goal differential.
On March 17th, the USMNT roster for these last four games was announced, with some regulars missing. One is star midfielder Weston McKinnie, who suffered a season-ending foot injury while playing for his club, Juventus, in their Champions League match in March.
Another more recent injury that could hold the US back is prolific fullback Sergiño Dest, who suffered a hamstring injury while playing for Barcelona only hours before the USMNT roster was announced. Despite the injury, Dest was still selected to be on the roster, so time will tell if he will be fit to play for the US.
The last three teams that the USMNT must face are Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica. It is crucial that the US wins against all three of these teams if they want to secure their place in the World Cup, especially since all these teams are within five points of the USMNT. The game with Mexico is the most substantial since they are tied with the US and because of the heated rivalry between the US and Mexico teams.
Make sure to watch the USMNT play their final CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying matches on March 24th against Mexico, March 27th against Panama, and March 30th against Costa Rica.
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