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Are the USA in the World Cup?

By Ty Finch

COUVA, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO - OCTOBER 09: Tim Howard of the United States mens national soccer team during their training session at the Ato Boldon Stadium on October 9, 2017 in Couva, Trinidad And Tobago. (Photo by Ashley Allen/Getty Images)
COUVA, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO - OCTOBER 09: Tim Howard of the United States mens national soccer team during their training session at the Ato Boldon Stadium on October 9, 2017 in Couva, Trinidad And Tobago. (Photo by Ashley Allen/Getty Images) /
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The 2018 World Cup is right around the corner. Will the USA be taking part in the tournament this year?

There’s plenty of room for error in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying. There are three top tier countries that qualify for the competition almost every time: United States, Mexico and Costa Rica. There are a few others that have an outside shot at getting in, but more often than not, those three are the automatic qualifiers for the region.

Not so this past qualifying cycle. The USA will not be participating in the 2018 World Cup, failing to use that massive room for error in any sort of positive way.

Their qualifying started off as bad as it possibly could, with a 2-1 loss to Mexico at home and a 4-0 thrashing against Costa Rica that ultimately cost Jurgen Klinsmann his job as USMNT manager. After appointing Bruce Arena in charge for the rest of the cycle, the USA promptly picked up eight points from their next four matches, including a comprehensive 6-0 dismantling of Honduras and a 1-1 draw away at Mexico, a place they rarely get anything out of.

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Things were beginning to look up for the USA. There was little to no fear of missing on the World Cup. Then, they lost to Costa Rica again and drew against Honduras, therefore needing a few results to ensure their ninth consecutive World Cup birth.

After a relatively easy 4-0 win over Panama, the stage was set. They only needed a draw against Trinidad to secure qualification. Trinidad finished dead last in the final stage of qualification and had nothing to play for. The US lost anyway. The results in the other matches didn’t go their way.

So, no, after a cataclysmic display in qualifying in one of the world easiest regions, the USMNT will not be participating in the 2018 World Cup.

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