The promising start to the final stretch of World Cup Qualifying was derailed on Sunday when the US lost against Canada. Despite the US going over 35 years without losing a game to Canada, Head Coach Gregg Berhalter has now managed to lose to Les Rouges twice in the last 26 months, both abject disasters where the US looked both impotent and disinterested. Now, what felt like a comfortable cushion in the Octagonal is gone, setting up a nervy run to the finish. The final game of this window is up next against Honduras.

Berhalter’s first loss to Canada back in October of 2019 could be forgiven. It was a game in the Concacaf Nations League with nothing really on the line. While dispiriting, upsets do happen and streaks do eventually come to an end. But there were one or two alarming issues to come out of that game, including Christian Pulisic very clearly having little to no respect for his manager (perhaps justifiably). Those same issues reared their ugly heads again on Sunday as the US once again fell 2-0 on the road against the Canadians. They kept the ball for long stretches of time but failed to do anything with it, almost as if the gameplan was to keep possession just for the sake of keeping possession. But such is the case with a manger desperate to prove how much smarter he is than everybody else. Berhalter’s postgame comments also served to illustrate just how out of touch with reality and how in love with himself he really is by saying that while the result hurt, the performance (one shot on goal) did not. A couple of more performances that don’t hurt and the US might just miss out on a second straight World Cup.

Honduras is quite frankly a terrible soccer team right now. They are a shadow of their former self (a team that went to back to back World Cups in 2014 and 2018 and just missed out on qualifying for 2018, losing a home and home playoff to Australia. This round of qualifying has been an abject disaster. They have failed to win a single game and have lost six straight in qualifying (seven straight overall). They are winless in an astounding 13 straight games, dating all the way back to July when they won their second group stage game at the Gold Cup. They have nothing left to play for other than pride, as with just three points and four games remaining, they have been officially eliminated from qualifying for the World Cup. Their roster for this window is mostly domestic based players but does feature Bryan Acosta of the Colorado Rapids, with 2 goals in 56 caps for Los Catrachos.

Notes:
1. Standings for the Octagonal: Canada (22pts), USA (18pts), Mexico (18pts), Panama (17pts), Costa Rica (13pts), El Salvador (9pts), Jamaica (7pts), Honduras (3pts)

When and where to watch the game on US TV and streaming

Wednesday, February 2, 2022
Allianz Field
St. Paul, Minnesota
7:30pm ET
FS1, Univision, TUDN,

All-Time Series

USA leads series 18-4-5

Last Meeting

Wednesday, September 8, 2021
Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano
San Pedro Sula, Honduras
USA 4-0 Honduras

Current FIFA Ranking

USA: 11
Honduras: 76

Next Game

Thursday, March 24, 2022
World Cup Qualifying
Mexico vs. USA
Estadio Azteca
Mexico City, Mexico