CHICAGO – The U.S. men’s national team learned its schedule for the final round of 2022 World Cup qualifying following the official draw at FIFA House in Zurich, Switzerland on Wednesday.
The USMNT will open its 14-game final round World Cup schedule in June 2021 away to an undetermined opponent.
“We have been developing this group for more than a year to get ready for World Cup Qualifying, and now we know the path ahead,” USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter said in a statement. “This campaign presents some unique challenges, so the message is to be prepared for the unexpected and control what we can control. One thing is certain: this group of players is hungry for the challenge.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing a change to the original qualifying format, the final round will feature eight teams playing a 14-game home-and-away round-robin format. Based on being the top five Concacaf teams in July’s FIFA world ranking, the USA, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica and Mexico automatically qualified for the final round, while the three remaining participants will be determined through two preliminary rounds of qualifying. which will run from October 2020 to March 2021.
The U.S. could potentially play Trinidad and Tobago away in their opening match of the final round of qualifying, depending on the results in the earlier rounds. Trinidad and Tobago defeated the USMNT in their final match of qualifying in October 2017 to keep the USA from missing the 2018 World Cup. T&T, the top seed in Group F, would need to win its group and then win the playoff against the winner of Group A.
Final match dates, times and venues will be confirmed at a later date.
2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Schedule – Final Round
Matchday
Date
Home
Away
1
June 2021
Group A/F Winner
USA
2
June 2021
USA
Group B/E Winner
3
June 2021
Honduras
USA
4
June 2021
USA
Jamaica
5
Sept. 2021
Group C/D Winner
USA
6
Sept. 2021
USA
Costa Rica
7
Oct. 2021
USA
Mexico
8
Oct. 2021
Jamaica
USA
9
Nov. 2021
USA
Group A/F Winner
10
Nov. 2021
Group B/E Winner
USA
11
Jan. 2022
USA
Honduras
12
Jan. 2022
Mexico
USA
13
March 2022
USA
Group C/D Winner
14
March 2022
Costa Rica
USA
