Preview: USMNT Takes On Two-Time World Cup Champion Uruguay In Kansas City As Qatar Prep Continues

CHICAGO (June 4, 2022) – Following a strong start to its FIFA World Cup preparation with a 3-0 victory against fellow tournament participant Morocco, the U.S. Men’s National Team will face two-time World Cup champion Uruguay on Sunday at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan. (5 p.m. ET; FOX, Univision, TUDN).

 

USA-Uruguay, presented by Allstate, represents the second of three final pre-World Cup home games before the U.S. heads to Qatar in November. The USA will face a star-studded South American side in La Celeste, currently ranked 13th in the world and preparing for its 14th World Cup appearance.

 

USMNT ROSTER BY POSITION - JUNE TRAINING CAMP

 

GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Nottingham Forest/ENG; 7/0), Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 9/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 17/0)

 

DEFENDERS (9): George Bello (Arminia Bielefeld/GER; 6/0), Reggie Cannon (Boavista/POR; 25/1), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 9/0), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 24/3), Erik Palmer-Brown (Troyes/FRA; 3/0), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 26/2), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 1/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami; 73/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 29/3)

 

MIDFIELDERS (7): Kellyn Acosta (LAFC; 51/2), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig/GER; 28/1), Luca de la Torre (Heracles/NED; 8/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 32/9), Yunus Musah (Valencia/ESP; 17/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 31/0), Malik Tillman (Bayern Munich/GER; 1/0)

 

FORWARDS (7): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 19/6), Paul Arriola (FC Dallas; 44/9), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; 10/3), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders; 46/10), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 49/21), Tim Weah (Lille/FRA; 23/3), Haji Wright (Antalyaspor/TUR; 1/1)

 

ROSTER UPDATES

Two changes have been made since the initial announcement of the USMNT roster on May 20. Veteran goalkeeper Sean Johnson was added to the squad after Zack Steffen had to withdraw from camp due to family reasons. Midfielder Djordje Mihailovic suffered an ankle injury during CF Montreal’s 4-3 win against FC Cincinnati on May 28 and was also forced to withdraw from the roster on Monday.

 

USA SCHEDULE - JUNE INTERNATIONAL WINDOW

 

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result/Time (ET)	TV Info
Wednesday, June 1	Morocco	TQL Stadium; Cincinnati, Ohio	3-0 W	-
Sunday, June 5	Uruguay	Children’s Mercy Park; Kansas City, Kan.	5 p.m. ET	FOX, Univision, TUDN
Friday, June 10	Grenada - Concacaf Nations League	Q2 Stadium; Austin, Texas	10 p.m. ET	ESPN+, UniMas, TUDN
Tuesday, June 14	El Salvador - Concacaf Nations League	Estadio Cuscatlan; San Salvador, El Salvador	10 p.m. ET	FS1, Univision, TUDN

 

STRONG START TO SUMMER

The USMNT kicked off the June international window with a convincing 3-0 victory against African powerhouse Morocco. Some skillful play from forward Christian Pulisic teed up forward Brenden Aaronson for the opening goal, while forward Tim Weah ripped a shot from distance to put the USA up 2-0 before the break. Debutant forward Haji Wright finished the scoring with a second-half penalty to put the game away. The victory extended the USMNT’s home unbeaten streak to 24 games and marked the USA’s first win vs. Morocco after three losses in its first three games against the Atlas Lions.

 

WELCOME TO THE USMNT

Three players made their USMNT debut against Morocco on Wednesday night: defender Joe Scally, midfielder Malik Tillman and forward Haji Wright. Scally was called into the USA’s November training camp, but saw his first action for the senior team to start the second half against Morocco. Tillman earned his first cap after being approved by FIFA for a change of association from Germany this past Tuesday. Wright scored in his full international debut, becoming the 56th player to score in their first cap. In total, 56 players have now made their first appearance for the U.S. during head coach Gregg Berthalter’s 51 matches in charge.

 

USA ROSTER NOTES:

• With his assist on forward Brenden Aaronson’s opening goal, forward Christian Pulisic (49 caps) became the fastest USMNT player to reach double-digit goals and assists, besting Landon Donovan who reached the mark in 50 international appearances. It was Pulisic’s first assist since the 2019 Gold Cup Quarterfinal vs. Curaçao on June 30.

• Aaronson’s 26th-minute goal was the sixth of his international career and first since the 4-1 World Cup qualifying win at Honduras on Sept. 8, 2021.

• Forward Tim Weah’s 32nd-minute strike was his third in a U.S. shirt. Defender Reggie Cannon also collected his third career assist on Weah’s goal.

• Earning his 17th appearance vs. Morocco, goalkeeper Matt Turner made eight saves to keep his 12th career clean sheet. He now sits in sole possession of sixth on the USMNT’s all-time shutout list, eight back of Brad Guzan (20 shutouts in 64 caps).

• Against Morocco, defender Aaron Long earned his first start since the 2-1 win at Northern Ireland on March 28, 2021. After recovering from a ruptured Achilles suffered in May 2021, Long returned to the team during the March international window, making two substitute appearances in the 0-0 draw at Mexico and 5-1 win against Panama.

• Against Morocco, defender Cameron Carter-Vickers earned his first cap since June 1, 2019 vs. Jamaica, when he also replaced defender Walker Zimmerman to start the second half.

• After missing out on the March window due to injury, midfielder Weston McKennie returned off the bench for the USMNT against Morocco, replacing Aaronson in the 72nd minute.

• Defender Antonee Robinson is the only player to start all seven USMNT matches in 2022. Robinson has started each of the last 10 matches in which he’s been called to camp, only missing out on the 1-0 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina during the team’s domestic training camp last December.

• The roster is composed of 16 players from Europe and 10 players from Major League Soccer.

• Nineteen players were part of the USMNT’s March World Cup Qualifying squad.

WORLD CUP BOUND

The U.S. successfully completed the gauntlet of Concacaf qualifying in March, clinching its berth to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar on the final matchday. In what promises to be one of the toughest groups in the tournament, the USMNT was drawn into Group B alongside the final UEFA play-off winner (one of Ukraine or Wales; to be determined on June 5), 2020 European Championship runner-up England, and IR Iran.

 

The USA will have six preparation matches before heading to Qatar in November - these four during the June international window plus two additional friendlies in September. The trio of June matches on U.S. soil represent the USMNT’s final home games before the World Cup, with the June 10 match vs. Grenada in Austin serving as the team’s final send-off before Qatar 2022.

 

SEASON-ENDING SILVERWARE

A number of USMNT players abroad came into camp with new silverware as the European club season comes to a close. Forward Brenden Aaronson helped Red Bull Salzburg win the Austrian Bundesliga and Austrian Cup earlier this month, while defender Antonee Robinson and Fulham won the English Championship in convincing fashion, earning promotion to the Premier League for the 2022-23 season.

 

In Germany, Bayern Munich midfielder Malik Tillman won the Bundesliga title while Tyler Adams lifted the DFB Pokal with RB Leipzig. This weekend, goalkeeper Ethan Horvath and Nottingham Forest earned promotion to the Premier League with a tightly-contested victory in the Championship Playoff Final against Huddersfield Town.

 

Additionally, forward Jordan Morris and midfielder Cristian Roldan helped the Seattle Sounders become the first MLS club to capture the Concacaf Champions League title earlier this month, topping Liga MX’s Pumas 5-2 in the two-legged final.

 

AGING NICELY

The USMNT was by far the youngest team to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, garnering valuable experience going through the rigors of World Cup qualifying. Through 14 qualifiers, the team’s average age of players that appeared was 24.07. The next closest was Ecuador, whose average age of all players during their 18 qualifying matches came in at 25.81.

• BY THE NUMBERS: The USMNT’s 2022 World Cup Qualifying Run

From the available data for the qualified teams, the USMNT played the 10 youngest lineups worldwide during the recently concluded cycle, with all 14 lineups falling in the 22 youngest Starting XIs in the world during qualifiers dating back to October 2020. After its successful qualifying campaign, each match is another opportunity for the young USMNT player pool to gain experience against top-flight competition.

USA-URUGUAY

• The USA is an even 2-2-3 against Uruguay all-time and 2-0-3 at home.

• The nations last met in a friendly on Sept. 10, 2019, playing to a 1-1 draw at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. After conceding in the second half, forward Jordan Morris drew the U.S. even with a 79th-minute goal, his first in more than two years.

• The all-time series began on May 29, 1924 at the Paris Olympics, a 3-0 loss for the USA. La Celeste were the USMNT’s fourth-ever opponent.

• The teams also met in May 1991 for head coach Bora Milutinovic’s first game as U.S. head coach. Current Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes netted the lone goal in the 1-0 victory in Denver, the USA’s first win vs. Uruguay.

• When the nations played in March 1995, things were called in the 83rd minute due to high winds, ending the game in a 2-2 draw. Current U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Earnie Stewart scored in the match.

• The U.S. enjoyed its best finish at the FIFA World Cup in Uruguay, taking third at the 1930 tournament.

URUGUAY ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB; CAPS/GOALS)

GOALKEEPERS (3): Fernando Muslera (Galatasaray/TUR; 131/0), Sergio Rochet (Nacional; 5/0), Sebastian Sosa (Independiente/ARG; 0/0)

DEFENDERS (9): Ronald Araujo (Barcelona/ESP; 10/0), Martin Caceres (Levante/ESP; 112/4), Sebastian Coates (Sporting CP/POR; 45/1), Jose Gimenez (Atletico Madrid/ESP; 77/8), Diego Godin (Atletico Mineiro/BRA; 158/8), Mathias Olivera (Getafe/ESP; 4/0), Damian Suarez (Getafe/ESP; 5/0), Guillermo Varela (Dynamo Moscow/RUS; 5/0), Matias Viña (Roma/ITA; 22/0)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Mauro Arambarri (Getafe/ESP; 10/0), Giorgian de Arrascaeta (Flamengo/BRA; 37/8), Nicolas de la Cruz (River Plate/ARG; 14/0), Fernando Gorriaran (Santos Laguna/MEX; 5/0), Lucas Torreira (Fiorentina/ITA; 38/0), Manuel Ugarte (Sporting CP/POR; 3/0), Federico Valverde (Real Madrid/ESP; 40/4), Matias Vecino (Inter Milan/ITA; 58/4)

FORWARDS (6): Agustin Canobbio (Athletico Paranaense/BRA; 2/0), Edinson Cavani (Manchester United/ENG; 131/56), Darwin Nuñez (Benfica/POR; 10/2), Maxi Gomez (Valencia/ESP; 25/3), Facundo Pellistri (Alaves/ESP; 4/0), Diego Rossi (Fenerbahçe/TUR; 1/0)

IN FOCUS: URUGUAY

• Uruguay has a storied soccer history, winning the first FIFA World Cup in 1930 on home soil, the 1950 World Cup in front of the largest soccer crowd in world history at Brazil’s Maracana Stadium plus two Olympic gold medals in 1924 and 1928.

• La Celeste has also finished fourth three times: 1954, 1970 and 2010.

• Currently ranked 13th in the world, Uruguay was drawn into Group H of the 2022 FIFA World Cup alongside Portugal, Ghana and Korea Republic.

• At Russia 2018, Uruguay topped Group A with a perfect 3-0-0 record, besting Egypt, Saudi Arabia and host Russia. La Celeste topped Portugal in the Round of 16 before falling to eventual champion France in the quarterfinals.

• Uruguay qualified for the World Cup with one of four direct berths from South America, finishing third in the round robin CONMEBOL tournament.

• Like the USA, Uruguay qualified for the World Cup in March. A 1-0 victory against Peru in Montevideo sealed La Celeste’s ticket to Qatar. The team finished its 18-game qualifying run with an even goal differential, 22 goals for and 22 against.

• Prior to playing the U.S., Uruguay topped Mexico 3-0 in Glendale, Ariz. Edinson Cavani bagged a brace in the second half, while Matias Vecino also scored in the opening frame. Uruguay will play another World Cup prep friendly against U.S. group opponent IR Iran on June 11.

• Last summer, Uruguay was ousted in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Copa America, falling to Colombia in penalty kicks after a scoreless draw. La Celeste has won the tournament 15 times, tied for the most all-time.

• Only one Uruguay player competes domestically, the rest of the squad plies its trade abroad in Spain (nine players) Brazil, Italy, Portugal (three each), Argentina, Turkey (two each), England and Russia (one each).

• Defender Diego Godin is the roster’s most-experienced player with 158 caps, while forward Edinson Cavani’s 56 international goals lead the team.

• Head coach Diego Alonso, a former Uruguay international, was hired in December 2021. He won his first four games to secure the team’s World Cup berth. After a long playing career in Uruguay, Spain, Mexico, China and Argentina, Alonso jumped into coaching in 2011 and has led club teams in Uruguay, Paraguay and Mexico. He was Inter Miami CF’s first head coach, but left by mutual consent after the 2021 MLS season.