Entering Wednesday’s match with Costa Rica, the United States men’s national soccer team had a pretty easy path to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. A win, tie or loss by five goals or fewer would be good enough for the USA to qualify.
The good news for the Americans? They qualified.
What was the bad news? Let’s just say that it wasn’t exactly an overwhelming clinching performance. The American team didn’t come too close to an outright disaster but did use some of its margin for error.
So, if you were hoping that the USMNT would kick the door down and qualify in style after missing out in 2018, a 2-0 loss is probably not the result you were looking for.
The “win” drew a divided reaction. Several USMNT fans on Twitter were stressed out by what took place on the pitch.
https://twitter.com/jacob_seliga/status/1509355646470090755
"yes you want to win but ultimately this is job well done" they say of the us men's national team as it is losing 2-0 to costa rica.
and that's why we're not winning anything of substance. unserious organization.
— Derek Peterson (@dr_petey) March 31, 2022
Other observers, though, had a more circumspect attitude. For them, qualifying is the only thing that mattered.
Furthermore, limping into the World Cup doesn’t necessarily mean that the USMNT won’t enjoy any success once it begins.
https://twitter.com/davisjsn/status/1509364483453595656
This is, of course, a painfully unsatisfying way of qualifying for the World Cup—a flat, mirthless, gassed 2-0 loss to a diluted team. There will be handwringing.
But the #USMNT made it to Qatar because some very young players put in a lot of gutsy performances over 14 games.
— Leander “same handle *elsewhere*” Schaerlaeckens (@LeanderAlphabet) March 31, 2022
The 2022 World Cup is set to begin on November 21 in Qatar. The USMNT is already looking forward to it.
After missing out on qualifying four years ago, the Americans will be looking to make up for lost time.