CHICAGO – In its final match before the Concacaf Nations League Final Four, the U.S. men’s national team will take No. 16-ranked Switzerland in St. Gallen May 30, it was announced Friday.
ESPN and Univision networks will cover the match live from kybunpark, with the kickoff time still to be finalized.
The match against Switzerland represents the sixth time the USMNT will face a Top 20 opponent since Gregg Berhalter became head coach in 2019. Led by Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka and Liverpool midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri, the Swiss are gearing up for the European Championship where they have been drawn into Group A with four-time World Cup champion Italy, Turkey and Wales.
“One of our priorities is to challenge ourselves against top level competition, so we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to play a quality European opponent,” Berhalter said in a statement. “Both teams will be gearing up for big tournaments, so it will be great preparation for our group as we head into the summer.”
The encounter will mark the third time in the last quarter century the USA has met Switzerland. In the last duel, a Brek Shea free kick helped steer the USMNT to a 1-1 draw in Zurich March 31, 2015.
It was another free-kick finish that remains the iconic moment of the history between the teams. In the USA’s opening match of theFIFA World Cup, a crowd of 77,000 fans at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan witnessed an Eric Wynalda wonder strike that led to a 1-1 tie and the USMNT’s first point in a World Cup since 1950.
The May friendly will come nearly 31 years to the day of the USMNT’s first match in St. Gallen. Bruce Murray scored the U.S. goal in a 2-1 defeat to the Swiss June 2, 1990 in the team’s final match before taking part in the 1990 World Cup.
The USMNT is 1-3-4 all-time against Switzerland, and unbeaten in its last four.
