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)

[Bearcat]

And as someone who's never really been able to get into soccer, SKC's had a nice niche for years.... I've been to a couple games and it's a fun atmosphere (and I'm sure infinitely better than the old days in Arrowhead).

[DrRyan]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

What would you like done with MLS...our league that started out of thin air 1996 to rise above that?

The league has grown leaps and bounds by every metric.

And honestly lets not even talk about leagues but teams...there are what 4 or 5 clubs in the whole world who do not operate under the constant threat of a bigger fish coming in and buying out their talent. And it may be less than that. I am a fan of Borussia Dortmund easily a top 25 money club in the world and we are constantly getting poached. From our *rival* no less.

MLS is creating great players who sometimes get to move on to bigger and better things. That is really really good for US soccer...hell Tyler Adams started in an MLS academy got his chance to do the next thing and completely bossed England around the other day. It is all working as it should.

How can you remain a Dortmund fan? The have to be close 500 million in transfer windows profits in the last 10 years and still refuse to put any effort into using those profits to retain any players. IMO them being only sellers is a large part of what makes Bundesliga a bore having only Bayern as a true European power.

Not trying to salt the wound, genuinely curious to hear from a fan about their refusal to retain players or really "go for it" when they have such talent year in, year out.

[DrRyan]

Pathetic effort from Mexico today. They looked like a worse version of Atletico Madrid instantly kicking the ball away after gaining possession after having it in their end for 5 minutes or more at times. I was just waiting for them to throw the ball right to Argentina on throw ins to complete the disinterest in ever playing for more than a draw.

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by DrRyan

How can you remain a Dortmund fan? The have to be close 500 million in transfer windows profits in the last 10 years and still refuse to put any effort into using those profits to retain any players. IMO them being only sellers is a large part of what makes Bundesliga a bore having only Bayern as a true European power.

Not trying to salt the wound, genuinely curious to hear from a fan about their refusal to retain players or really "go for it" when they have such talent year in, year out.

My main point about how there are 4...maybe 5 teams in the world who are not subject to the whims of the super rich is correct.

The gap between them and Munich money wise is absolutely massive. They do go and get the players but they are ascending players and you simply can't hold someone back that wants to play at Barca, Manchester City...it goes on. I honestly think you overstate their ability to be able to hang on to those elite players financially.

My main gripe about Dortmund is they never maximize the players they have.

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

Your reaction to "well you might be in a bubble" was "well me and my friends don't watch it"

Like...ya thats sort of what I was saying.

SKC has consistently sold out and done well for over a decade...KC even went as far as to land to be host of World Cup games.

And hey, you don't have to give a shit...thats fine but you might be in a bubble. Unless you think they are doing all of this without....men in their 30s??

It is fine if these venn diagram circles do not intersect with yours but you seem to be confused about it all and I am not sure why.

That is indeed a wonderful sight to see.. Way to go KC, showing up for another great sport.

[Bearcat]

That offsides in the Germany game just kills me.

[|Zach|]

Match against Iran is gonna be spicy.

[TambaBerry]

Messi to the MLS?

[|Zach|]

Originally Posted by TambaBerry

Messi to the MLS?

Been in the works for a while but yea looks like he is going to land in Miami.

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

And as someone who's never really been able to get into soccer, SKC's had a nice niche for years.... I've been to a couple games and it's a fun atmosphere (and I'm sure infinitely better than the old days in Arrowhead).

The games are enjoyable to attend, but the level of play in MLS is too minor league for me to sustain interest.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by TambaBerry

Messi to the MLS?

Meh

[TripleThreat]

Originally Posted by TambaBerry

Messi to the MLS?

It’s where the great players finish their careers.

[Mizzou_8541]

Originally Posted by |Zach|

I do think it’s funny (cute) that St. Louis still maintains they are the soccer capital of the US.

[Eleazar]

The USA vs. England World Cup game that ended in a 0-0 draw was a big draw for Fox Sports on Friday, pulling in more than 15.3 million viewers to a set a record for the most-watched men’s soccer match on U.S. television.

Viewership of the 90-minute battle peaked from 3:30 p.m.-3:45 p.m. ET with 19.64 million viewers. The game’s average was strong enough to beat the previous record holder of 14.51 million who tuned in to see Brazil defeat Italy in the 1994 World Cup that was held in the U.S.

Fox Sports asserted that viewership was also up significantly compared to the comparable USA game at this stage of the World Cup tournament in 2014, when the U.S. team faced off against Portugal. That game, carried by ESPN, averaged 13.77 million viewers for the game itself per Fox, although it was widely reported in 2014 as 18.2 milion. The audience figure grew to 24.7 million when about 6 million viewers from Univision’s Spanish-language coverage were factored in.

[SuperBowl4]

Brazil just beat Switzerland 1-0