World Cup 2022: US opens tourney against Wales in first appearance in 8 years

The U.S. men’s national team is making their first World Cup appearance in eight years as they take on Wales.

The action kicks off at 2 p.m. ET on FOX/FOX Sports app. Monday’s game will mark Wales' first World Cup match in 64 years. Whats at stake in the U.S. vs. Wales match?

The way the USMNT’s group stage schedule is laid out also makes beating — or at the very least, not losing to — Wales even more important. Group B favorite England is looming in the Americans’ second match in Qatar, according to FOX Sports.

A tie in a rematch against Wales wouldn’t be a bad thing for the U.S. According to FOX Sports, more than 50% of teams that play to a stalemate in their opening World Cup game end up moving on. Still, a convincing win over Iran wouldn’t matter much if an England team that has already advanced and has nothing to play for loses its last match against Wales. 

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The last meeting between Wales and the Americans, in a friendly in Swansea just over two years ago, ended in a scoreless draw, FOX Sports noted. 

According to FOX Sports, the way the USMNT’s group stage schedule is set up also makes defeating — or at least, not losing to — Wales even more important. Group B favorite England is in the Americans’ second match in Qatar on Friday. And group play ends Nov. 29 against Iran, which eliminated the U.S. from the 1998 World Cup in France.

The lack of World Cup experience has the Welsh as guarded as the Americans heading into the match at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, a renovated 44,000-seat venue west of the capital, the Associated Press reported. 

Wales is led by 33-year-old Gareth Bale and 31-year-old Aaron Ramsey but without injured midfielder Joe Allen. The Dragons advanced to the 2016 European Championship semifinals before losing to eventual champion Portugal and made it to the second round of last year’s Euros before a 4-0 wipeout against Denmark, the AP noted.  USMNT players to watch

Tyler Adams will captain the United States at the World Cup. He is 23 and will be the youngest at the tournament. Adams will also be the youngest World Cup captain for the Americans since Walter Bahr in the 1950 game against Chile. He will also be the first African-American to wear the armband for the United States throughout a World Cup, according to the Associated Press. 

Only DeAndre Yedlin, a 29-year-old defender, remains from the American team eliminated by Belgium in the second round eight years ago, the AP noted. Yedlin, Christian Pulisic, Kellyn Acosta and Tim Ream are among just four holdovers from the group that flopped to the field in anguish after the crushing loss at Trinidad in CONCACAF qualifying in October 2017 that ended the streak of U.S. World Cup appearances at seven.

McKennie debuted a month later in a 1-1 friendly draw at Portugal along with Cameron Carter-Vickers and Tyler Adams, who was appointed captain Sunday at age 23.

A total of 118 players were tried over 68 matches in a World Cup cycle interrupted by a pandemic, including 91 after Gregg Berhalter was hired as coach in December 2018. He gave debuts to 56 players and took the second-youngest roster to the tournament at an average age of just over 25 years, older than only Ghana.

President Joe Biden called players to offer encouragement ahead of the opener.

Some players are already looking ahead four years, to when the U.S. co-hosts the tournament and the core group figures to be in its prime.

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"We want to build a ton of momentum going into 2026, but it all starts now," Berhalter said.

Berhalter becomes the first American to play and coach at a World Cup — his 50th minute shot from Claudio Reyna’s corner kick struck German defender Torsten Frings’ arm on the goal line but was not called a hand ball in 2002′s 1-0 quarterfinal loss.

Berhalter has implemented a high-pressing style and led the Americans to a 36-10-10 record that included titles in the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup and Nations League.

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With Miles Robinson and Chris Richards injured, the American central defense will start a pair from among Walker Zimmerman, Aaron Long, Carter-Vickers or 35-year-old Tim Ream, back on the national team for the first time in 14 months.
"Tim’s the grandpa of the group," Adams said.

Right back Sergiño Dest and McKennie are fit enough to play, but perhaps not enough to start.

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Forward, a position that produced just three goals in qualifying, also is uncertain for the U.S. Josh Sargent, Jesús Ferreira and Haji Wright are the choices.

Following Berhalter’s surprising decision to drop Zack Steffen, Matt Turner likely will start in goal over Ethan Horvath and Sean Johnson. Turner has been limited to four Europa League matches in his first season with Arsenal, the last Oct. 20.
"I showed the coaching staff here how much I’ve grown as a person and a player," Turner said.

Pulisic also has struggled for playing time, getting just five starts for Chelsea this season. Dest made only two starts for AC Milan.

As the opener approached, Pulisic recalled gathering for World Cup games in the basement of his home in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and watching Landon Donovan score the injury-time goal that beat Algeria in 2010 to earn advancement.

"The family coming together, wearing all our red, white and blue, just getting excited," Pulisic said. "It was always a dream of mine. I wanted to be there so bad. But now to be here as a part of this team actually at the World Cup, it’s special. And, yeah, I don’t want to take a moment of this for granted."

The Associated Press and FOX Sports contributed to this story.