National Teams

This here is Week 3 of our keeping track of Americans abroad in these power rankings that aren't really power rankings, and I declare this edition a collector's issue. That's right, fire up the printer, make sure you've got the necessary ink levels and print this whole webpage out for posterity.

This was the week the USMNT made a strong claim to be retroactively awarded the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup after beating Chelsea 3-0 at Elland Road.  

Head coach Vlakto Andonovski named his 23-player USWNT roster for a pair of September friendlies against Nigeria on Monday, with Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe the biggest names on the U.S. squad and a partial inclusion for Crystal Dunn. 

The Major Leeds Soccer (MLS) experiment stunned the football community Sunday by recording its first win over Chelsea in almost 20 years, a 3-0 clinic at Elland Road, with USMNT attacker Brenden Aaronson scoring his first goal for the club and compatriot Tyler Adams putting Mason Mount in his back pocket for 77 minutes. 

A blood and thunder start to the match was followed by a period of Chelsea superiority where it looked like the Blues would ultimately punish Leeds' wild ways, but Jesse Marsch's team seems to gather its strength from periods of distress.   

Josh Sargent is on a hot streak right now for Norwich City in the EFL Championship. After scoring a sensational header on Tuesday he followed that performance up on Friday with a brace for the Canaries to defeat Millwall 2-0. The Sargent goals vs Millwall were the only goals of the game.

Josh Sargent Goals vs Millwall

@joshsargent pic.twitter.com/XEofIOPaI8

Organizers have sold 2.45 million tickets for this year's World Cup in Qatar, world soccer governing body FIFA said on Thursday, with more than half a million of them sold in the last sales period from July 5-16.

FIFA said the biggest number of allocated tickets were for group stage matches like Cameroon vs. Brazil, Brazil vs. Serbia, Portugal vs. Uruguay, Costa Rica vs. Germany and Australia vs. Denmark.

The USWNT U-20s were bounced out of 2022 U-20 Women’s World Cup in the group stage on Wednesday after suffering a 3-1 defeat to reigning champions Japan in Alajuela, Costa Rica. The U.S. finished the group stage with one victory and two losses, the team’s worst showing in the 10 editions of the tournament.

The Americans finished third in Group D ahead of Ghana but behind Japan and the Netherlands. The U.S. opened the tournament with a 3-0 victory vs. Ghana but then followed that game with a 3-0 defeat to the Dutch.

Ninety-five days to go now. There's still so much to prove but so little time for our boys in r̶e̶d̶, white and blue ahead of the World Cup. 

The past week in Europe saw the emergence of a young star, strong performances from guys on the fence and two locked-in starters enter transfer purgatory. 

After two games played in the Premier League season, Christian Pulisic has managed to play 33 minutes. There has been speculation Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel doesn’t trust the young American, and with a World Cup just months away, game time will be important. Many clubs have been linked with Pulisic, but finding the right fit is easier said than done.

The U.S. men’s national team can breathe a sigh of relief after finishing World Cup qualifying in March with just enough points (and goals) to ensure its spot among the 32 teams in Qatar. The team can also take a bit of a break, as there are just two matches remaining on the 2022 USMNT schedule before the start of the 2022 World Cup in November.