The dates are set, and four of the seven opponents are as well after Concacaf's 2022 World Cup qualifying draw.
The U.S. national team learned Wednesday that it will start down the road to the 2022 World Cup on the road—possibly in Trinidad & Tobago—and that it’ll face Mexico in October 2021 (home) and January 2022 (away) as Concacaf conducted its qualifying draw.
The revamped qualifying format sends Concacaf’s top five teams based on FIFA ranking straight to an expanded octagonal final round, which will be played as a home-and-away round robin from June 2021 through March 2022. The octagonal’s other three participants will be decided via two rounds of qualifying comprising 30 teams that kicks off in October.
The top three finishers in the octagonal will book passage to Qatar, while the fourth-place team will head to an intercontinental playoff in June 2022.
Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Honduras and Jamaica are the five automatic octagonal qualifiers.
After drawing the groups and second-round matchups for the first two rounds, FIFA on Wednesday assigned the octagonal participants to a spot in the final stage that would determine their schedules. The USA was drawn into position No. 4, which means it’ll start qualification on the road against the survivor of the second-round playoff between the winners of Group A and F. Those are likely to be El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago. Should the Soca Warriors advance, it’ll mean the Americans will begin the 2022 World Cup cycle where the 2018 edition ended in humiliating fashion, as a 2-1 qualifying defeat sent coach Bruce Arena’s side crashing out.
The USA’s second game in the opening qualifying window will be at home against another qualifier, most likely Canada or Haiti. The octagonal will conclude in March 2022 at Costa Rica, where the Americans have traditionally struggled.
The Canadians, who are a top seed in the first round’s Group B, were gifted with what should be an easy path to the second-round playoff. They’ll face Suriname (FIFA rank No. 141), Bermuda (No. 168), Cayman Islands (No. 193) and Aruba (No. 200) once each in October and November.
Here’s a rough USA qualifying schedule:
Game 1 - at Group A/F winner, May 31-June 15, 2021
Game 2 - vs. Group B/E winner, May 31-June 15, 2021
Game 3 - at Honduras, May 31-June 15, 2021
Game 4 - vs. Jamaica, May 31-June 15, 2021
Game 5 - at Group C/D winner, Aug. 30-Sept. 7, 2021
Game 6 - vs. Costa Rica, Aug. 30-Sept. 7, 2021
Game 7 - vs. Mexico, Oct. 4-12, 2021
Game 8 - at Jamaica, Oct. 4-12, 2021
Game 9 - vs. Group A/F winner, Nov. 8-16, 2021
Game 10 - at Group B/E winner, Nov. 8-16, 2021
Game 11 - vs. Honduras, Jan. 24-Feb. 1, 2022
Game 12 - at Mexico, Jan. 24-Feb. 1, 2022
Game 13 - vs. Group C/D winner, March 21-29, 2022
Game 14 - at Costa Rica, March 21-29, 2022