Photo: Paul Rudderow
Philadelphia Union
The Union return to Subaru Park on Saturday to take on league newcomers Charlotte FC.
Union defender Oliver Mbaizo’s Cameroon National Team has qualified for the 2022 World Cup by way of a thrilling 2-1 comeback in the second leg of their matchup against Algeria.
MLS
The MLS Extra-Time podcast asks the question: Is it time to reevaluate Charlotte FC?
Houston Dynamo have loaned midfielder Joe Corona to Swedish side GIF Sundsvall.
A handful of MLS players are World Cup-bound.
International
USMNT enter the final matchday of World Cup qualifying against Costa Rica, needing any result better than a 0-6 loss to punch their ticket to Qatar. Kickoff is tonight at 9 p.m.
Senegal punched their ticket to Qatar by way of a laser-pointer filled penalty-kick shootout win over Egypt. Highlights here.
Poland took care of business against Sweden, winning 2-0, and are headed to Qatar. Highlights here.
View the list of all the teams who have qualified for the World Cup thus far.
The most significant part of tonight’s game is that if the US is able to qualify tonight they should go into pot 2 in the draw meaning there will be 2 teams in their group ranked significantly lower and they’ll have a 1 in 8 chance of being drawn in the same group as Qatar.
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If they lose by 6+ goals (and Mexico doesn’t lose at home against El Salvador), not only will they need to play a one game playoff against New Zealand in Qatar in June, they’ll also be part of Pot 4 which means a much tougher group.
Looking at Steffan tongight and other games throughout qualifying makes me wish Andre Blake would become a US Citizen and be eligible for the USMNT. It pains me to say since Stefffan is a local guy, but he should definitely not be the #1 GK for the squad. I know Turner since we have seen him play for NE so long, I don’t know much about Ethan Horvath, but I can definitely say that Shawn Johnson should be higher on the depth chart than Steffan having wattched him for NYC. Steffan looks tentative and does not seem to react well. Could be he is rusty since he is primarily a backup in the Premier League