“When is the March USMNT roster coming out?” is the question fans have been asking for about a week now. The U.S. has its three final and biggest World Cup qualifying games to close out March.
Fans are eager to know who the American players will be that play Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica to try to qualify for Qatar this winter. In the past, the USMNT would release the roster via social media the week before the first game of a qualifying window.
For the final window of qualifying the USMNT is doing things a bit different.
When Will March USMNT Roster Come Out?
"Where's the roster?"
"Drop the roster.""When's the roster gonna be announced???"
"WE NEED THE ROSTER!!!"
The roster drops TOMORROW, 6 PM ET exclusively on @SportsCenter. pic.twitter.com/sneOGNWmWu
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) March 16, 2022
That’s right, instead of just giving the fans what they want, the USMNT is making a big show about the roster reveal. Call it impatience, but I absolutely hate this idea.
There are a couple reasons I’m upset. For starters, why all the pomp and circumstance this time around? Just show us the names of the players that will get the job done. I understand trying to build hype around the qualifying, but I don’t give a single damn about getting people excited.
Just. Qualify.
The team also couldn’t have picked a worse time or date to pull this TV stunt. All the loyal and die-hard USMNT fans will know where to look for the roster, this move to put the roster reveal on SportsCenter is unlikely to get attention from the casual fans. Instead of doing the roster reveal on a quiet day, the USMNT picked the first day of March Madness to try to get people’s attention.
The roster reveal will take place at the same time as Gonzaga’s opener vs. Georgia State and the matchup between North Carolina and Marquette. The casual sports fan will be much more likely to have their attention on the Big Dance than a roster reveal.
Norwich already has somewhat of a scoop on the roster and spoiled the USMNT’s parade a little by revealing Josh Sargent didn’t make the cut.
Josh Sargent has been named on the reserve list for the USA's upcoming World Cup qualifying matches.#NCFC
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) March 16, 2022
Here was a taste of a reaction to the news that the roster was being revealed on SportsCenter.
Announcing Lletget on Sportscenter. Absolute scenes
— Dominic Sanchez (@SanchezDominic2) March 16, 2022
Why can't you just post it on Twitter like a normal national team?
— Football Report ☮️ #BerhalterOut (@FootballReprt) March 16, 2022
I hope they take a crash course in how to pronounce player names and the clubs they play for
— Takoma Toffee (@TakomaToffee) March 16, 2022
Gonna get a solid 45 seconds on ESPN between commercial breaks?
— scott jorek (@Burgermeister73) March 16, 2022
SportsCenter? People still watch that?
— Diego Alonso ♫ (@DAlonsoMusic) March 16, 2022
Oh fuck off
— Jake Owens (@Jo11Jake) March 16, 2022
2022 March USMNT Roster Prediction
Goalkeepers (3)
Ethan Horvath (Nottingham Forest)
Sean Johnson (NYCFC)
Gabriel Slonina (Chicago Fire)
Defenders (9)
Reggie Cannon (Boavista)
Antonee Robinson (Fulham)
Sergiño Dest (Barcelona)
Joe Scally (Borussia Monchengladbach)
Miles Robinson (Atlanta United)
Mark McKenzie (Genk)
Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)
DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami)
John Brooks (Wolfsburg)
Midfielders (6)
Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig)
Kellyn Acosta (LAFC)
Gianluca Busio (Venezia)
Luca de la Torre (Heracles)
Yunus Musah (Valencia)
Sebastian Lletget (New England Revolution)
Forwards (8)
Christian Pulisic (Chelsea)
Brenden Aaronson (RB Salzburg)
Tim Weah (Lille)
Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund)
Paul Arriola (FC Dallas)