SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Despite the possibility of losing to Costa Rica by five goals or fewer on Wednesday and still qualifying for the World Cup, coach Gregg Berhalter and the United States men’s national team players remain unmoved by their winning intentions.
Few players remain from the group that failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, but the lesson remains.
“Of course we’re in a great situation and we know it, but I think when we went into the game against Trinidad we thought we were in a good situation too,” said right-back DeAndre Yedlin, one of four players along with Christian Pulisic, Paul Arriola and Kellyn Acosta in the current squad, who featured in the infamous loss to Trinidad and Tobago in 2017 that kept the team out of the last World Cup.
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It would take an even greater catastrophe for the US to miss out this time. The Americans have not lost by six goals or more since losing 6-0 to France in a friendly in 1979.
The incentive of qualifying is coupled with the opportunity to make history in Costa Rica, where the team is 0-9-2 all-time in World Cup qualifiers. In the last qualifying cycle, the USMNT lost 4-0 in Costa Rica, which resulted in the dismissal of coach Jürgen Klinsmann.
“We are now in a position where history speaks where we can come to Costa Rica and get the first win in the national team qualifying process,” said midfielder Tyler Adams. “So for us, again, it means putting a tick next to something that no other team has done.
“We had this game-to-game mentality and some of the stipulations come with being able to be one of the first teams to do that and have that performance.”
With one game to go, Canada (28 points) are the only team in CONCACAF to have officially qualified. USA and Mexico (25 each) are just behind on goal differential advantage over Costa Rica (22 points).
The top three CONCACAF teams qualify automatically for the Qatar World Cup, while the fourth-placed team takes on the winners of the Oceanic Confederation (New Zealand or Solomon Islands) in a play-off match in June.
CONCACAF table
| gp | PTS | DG | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 – Canada (Q) | 13 | 28 | +17 |
| 2 – United States | 13 | 25 | +13 |
| 3 – Mexico | 13 | 25 | +7 |
| 4 – Costa Rica | 13 | 22 | +3 |
| 5 – Panama | 13 | 18 | -3 |
| 6 – El Salvador | 13 | 10 | -8th |
| 7 – Jamaica | 13 | 8th | -11 |
| 8 – Honduras | 13 | 4 | -18 |
| 1-3 qualify; 4 in the decider | |||
Costa Rica coach Luis Fernando Suarez faces an interesting dilemma. The Ticos have nine yellow-carded players and if any of them get a yellow card against the USMNT – assuming they finish fourth in CONCACAF – they would be suspended for the play-offs. This situation raises the possibility that Costa Rica will use their best players to ensure their availability in the playoffs.
“That won’t change until tomorrow, but it’s a stupid rule,” said Berhalter. “We’re going 14 rounds and if a guy gets a yellow in the 14th round in the first round, does he sit out the biggest game?
“We expect they will play their best line-up, they will try, but it can change. We have identified all of their players on their list. We’ve explored all of their players and their potential for change.”
Right-back Reggie Cannon returned to the US squad on Tuesday, Berhalter said, and will be training with the team. He missed the last two games against Mexico and Panama after testing positive for COVID-19.