I have to be honest here — I never thought I’d see the day that the United States Men’s Soccer Team beats Mexico three times in a calendar year, but that is exactly what happened. In the biggest match since the 2014 World Cup, US manager Gregg Berhalter led a young and promising United States team to a 2-0 victory. Yes, it is that scoreline again: dos a cero. The second-half substitution of Christian Pulisic turned out to be the deciding factor. With the score still deadlocked at zero, Pulisic headed a Timothy Weah cross into the back of the net in the 74th minute. Midfielder Weston McKennie would score again in the final minute of the game, bringing the final score to dos a cero. Now, we have an exciting USA vs Jamaica CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying match tonight.
Updated CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Table
The top three teams will qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The fourth-placed team will advance to inter-confederation playoff.
W: Win | L: Loss | D: Draw
| Team | Matches | Points | Last Five |
| 1. United States | 7 | 14 | WWLWW |
| 2. Mexico | 7 | 14 | LWWDD |
| 3. Canada | 7 | 13 | WWDDW |
| 4. Panama | 7 | 11 | WLWLD |
| 5. Costa Rica | 7 | 6 | LLWDD |
| 6. Jamaica | 7 | 6 | DWDLD |
| 7. El Salvador | 7 | 6 | DLLWL |
| 8. Honduras | 7 | 3 | LLLDL |
USA vs Jamaica Preview | CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying
Date: Tuesday, November 16th, 2021
Time: 5:00 PM EST
Coverage: Paramount+
After getting a milestone victory over Mexico on Friday, this is still a huge match for the United States. Unfortunately, Miles Robinson and Weston McKennie were sent back to their league clubs, as they are suspended for tonight’s match. Defender Miles Robinson saw a red card late in the match on Friday and McKennie had accumulated enough yellow cards throughout qualification to take him out of this matchup. I expect Chris Richards to make his second start in place of Robinson. However, the question of who will occupy McKennie’s spot is up in the air. USA could elect to be aggressive and start 19-year old Gianluca Busio. However, after winning four of their last five matches, I expect them to play a bit more cautious and start Kellyn Acosta.
With all that being said, this will be a much better team with Christian Pulisic back in the mix. He didn’t play the full 90 minutes on Friday, but he made his substitution worthwhile. I expect him and Berhalter to be cautious with his ankle so it can fully heal. I think Berhalter gives Pulisic the captain’s band and the start, but he won’t go for the full 90 minutes tonight. Also up front for the US, Ricardo Pepi had been red-hot before the Mexico game, and I expect him to pick his game up tonight, as he couldn’t find the back of the net on Friday.
The two players the US need to focus on for Jamaica are Premier League players Michail Antonio and Leon Bailey. Antonio, the West Ham forward, already has six goals in the league this year, so he will have to be marked at all times. Bailey is a young Aston Villa forward who has outstanding pace and playmaking abilities. Without Robinson, Deandre Yedlin and Walker Zimmerman need to have good performances if USA wants to win their third straight.
USA vs Jamaica Prediction
In the end I think the United States will come out sluggish, which is expected with such a young team coming off such a big win. Jamaica will get multiple chances early on and throughout the first half but will go into the dressing rooms squared at zero.
The Stars and Stripes have made a living on scoring in the second half of games, and that won’t change tonight. Look for Pepi to have a great second half and score the opener on a Weah cross. USA will end up giving a lot of chances to Jamaica late in the game, but goalkeeper Zach Steffen is up for the task. After having a strong performance against Mexico, Yunus Musah will score a late second-half goal on the counter-attack to bring the final tally to 2-0, in the United States’ favor.
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