After nearly four years, the U.S. men’s national team will embark on the quest to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar when it faces El Salvador in San Salvador Thursday night.

El Salvador-USA marks the beginning of a seven-month journey for the USMNT through the rigors of Concacaf, where it will play 14 matches against seven of the confederation’s top teams for the right to represent the region at Qatar 2022.

For the first time, the September international window features three World Cup qualifying matches and it all starts off with a trip to the hostile environs of San Salvador. Kickoff from Estadio Cuscatlan is set for 10:05 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network, Paramount+ and Universo.

U.S. roster

GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Nottingham Forest/ENG; 7/0), Zack Steffen (Manchester City/ENG; 23/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 7/0)

DEFENDERS (10): George Bello (Atlanta United; 3/0), John Brooks (Wolfsburg/GER; 43/3), Sergiño Dest (Barcelona/ESP; 11/1), Mark McKenzie (Genk/BEL; 6/0), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 45/1), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 12/0), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United; 9/3), James Sands (New York City FC; 6/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Galatasaray/TUR; 64/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 17/2)

MIDFIELDERS (5): Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids; 37/2), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig/GER; 14/1), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 29/7), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 24/7), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 25/0)

FORWARDS (7): Brenden Aaronson (RB Salzburg/AUT; 7/3), Konrad de la Fuente (Olympique Marseille/FRA; 1/0), Jordan Pefok (BSC Young Boys/SUI; 6/1), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas; 0/0), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 38/16), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 8/4), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 16/5)

El Salvador roster

GOALKEEPERS (3): Kevin Carabantes (FAS; 3/0), Mario Gonzalez (Alianza; 11/0), Yonatan Guardado (Once Deportivo; 0/0)

DEFENDERS (8): Lizandro Claros (Aguila; 0/0), Roberto Dominguez (Chalatenango; 42/1), Ronald Gomez (Aguila; 10/0), Alexander Larin (Comunicaciones/GUA; 62/4), Miguel Lemus (Chalatenango; 6/0), Bryan Tamacas (Alianza; 42/1), Eduardo Vigil (Firpo; 1/0), Eriq Zavaleta (Toronto FC/CAN; 8/1)

MIDFIELDERS (10): Melvin Cartagena (Once Deportivo; 1/0), Darwin Ceren (Houston Dynamo/USA; 66/4), Enrico Hernandez (FC Eindhoven/NED; 0/0), Christian Martinez (San Carlos/CRC; 0/0), Armando Moreno (New Mexico United/USA; 4/0), Marvin Monterroza (Alianza; 29/2), Denis Pineda (FAS; 28/3), Narciso Orellana (Alianza; 39/1), Harold Osorio (Alianza; 1/0), Alex Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC/USA; 4/1)

FORWARDS (7): Jairo Henriquez (Aguila; 12/1), Walmer Martinez (Hartford Athletic/USA; 8/2), Joshua Perez (Miami FC/USA; 10/3), Kevin Reyes (FAS; 1/0), Joaquin Rivas (FC Tulsa/USA; 14/4), Erick Rivera (Santa Tecla; 3/0), Styven Vasquez (Aguila; 1/0)

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.