AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
The United States Men’s National Team is out of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. It’s the first time since 1986 that the team will miss out on the tournament.
Needing only a draw to punch their ticket to Russia, the USMNT traveled to Trinidad & Tobago for their final game of World Cup qualification. Going into the night, Honduras and Panama were both in striking distance to jump the Americans, but the USMNT’s fate was in their own hands — get the win and they’d be through to Russia.
The only way the Americans could be eliminated is if they lost and both Honduras and Panama won. That is exactly what happened as the United States fell well short.
Despite beating Trinidad & Tobago 6-0 earlier in the qualification round, the Americans went down 1-0 early in Tuesday night’s contest thanks to an own goal from Omar Gonzalez after a misplaced ball.
That was followed by an absolute strike from Trinidad & Tobago’s Alvin Jones that slid past Tim Howard to make it 2-0.
While American wunderkind Christian Pulisic would be able to earn a goal early in the second half, the USMNT weren’t able to pull level, and were eliminated after both Honduras and Panama won their games to jump the Americans in the CONCACAF qualifying table.
The Americans were also the victims of bad luck as Panama’s game-winning goal should have never counted. Replays showed that it never cleared the line.
Esa bola nunca entró ¡Árbitro vulgar! pic.twitter.com/9xyrrZIzWt
— TDMás (@tdmas_cr) October 11, 2017
Veteran Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl may have summed up the significnce of this loss the best:
“The United States has been eliminated from World Cup 2018,” Wahl wrote. “The most surreal and embarrassing night in US soccer history.”
After qualifying for seven straight World Cup tournaments, the Americans will now have to wait until 2022 before they get the chance to potentially play on the biggest stage in soccer. It’s also likely that we’ve seen the end of many favorites of American men’s soccer, including Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, and Tim Howard.
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