The U.S. men’s soccer team will open qualifying for the 2018 World Cup against Aruba or St. Vincent & The Grenadines at Busch Stadium on Friday November. 13.
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The opponents for those match days will be determined after the completion of the third round of qualifying. In May, in a friendly featuring the eventual Women’s World Cup champion United States against New Zealand, the Americans won 4-0 before 35817 fans, the largest crowd in U.S. history for a standalone women’s friendly.
Mexico qualified for a spot in the playoff game with a 3-1 victory over Jamaica in the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup today in Philadelphia.
Federation Internationale de Football Association held the preliminary draw for the next World Cup in St. Petersburg, Russia on Saturday, placing the US in a CONCACAF fourth-round qualifying group that includes Trinidad & Tobago, and the winners of St. Vincent & the Grenadines vs. Aruba and Antigua & Barbuda vs. Guatemala third-round matchups.
The biggest reason St. Louis hasn’t hosted matches is the lack of a soccer stadium.
This match will be played at Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals, making for a bit of an awkward home.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be playing our first World Cup qualifier towards Russian Federation 2018 in St. Louis”, U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said in a statement. “Some of the best players we have ever produced have ties there, and now we look forward to bringing the National Team back home to St. Louis where we know the support will be incredible”.
Seeking its eighth straight World Cup appearance, the Americans start with a pair of games on November 13 and 17.
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St. Louis is one of the country’s best soccer cities, providing talent to the national team for decades and routinely tuning in in big numbers on TV, but they haven’t hosted the men’s national team since 1998, and haven’t hosted a World Cup qualifier since 1989.
