World Cup 2022: USMNT, Berhalter get the job done in qualifying

By Doug McIntyre
FOX Sports Soccer Writer

The United States Men’s National Team are officially headed back to the biggest party in sports.

More than four years after the USMNT’s 28-year streak of consecutive World Cup appearances ended at seven with a stunning upset in Trinidad and Tobago, the Americans secured passage to this fall’s tournament in Qatar, despite a disappointing 2-0 defeat in Wednesday’s qualifying finale in Costa Rica. 

"Definitely frustrating — I hate to lose," U.S. star Christian Pulisic told CBS afterward. "But obviously, we’re so proud that we’re going to the World Cup."

Here are three quick thoughts following the clincher:

It wasn’t pretty, but this young USMNT got the job done

CONCACAF’s 14-match Octagonal started on the wrong foot for the U.S. in September. They kicked off the qualifying tournament with draws against El Salvador and Canada and then needed a furious, second-half comeback in Honduras to avoid a winless opening window.

After that, the highs (such as November’s "dos a cero" victory over rival Mexico) were offset by other lows (such as losses in Panama and Canada). But the U.S. produced two of their best performances this month against Mexico and Panama, even though they lost to the Ticos. And that wasn’t for a lack of trying.

With the same starting lineup Wednesday that secured a scoreless tie last week in Mexico City, Gregg Berhalter’s squad didn’t play like a team that needed only to avoid a six-goal loss to make it to Qatar — at least not for the first half of the match. The visitors dominated from the opening whistle in San Jose, controlling 61% of possession in the opening 45 minutes and forcing the Ticos’ all-world goalkeeper, Keylor Navas, to make several key saves to keep his team in the game. 

For the first time in 30 years, the U.S. didn’t trail at the intermission in Costa Rica.

The U.S. came out strong after the break, too. But the hosts took the lead against the run of play in the 51st minute on Juan Pablo Vargas’ powerful header and soon took advantage of more poor defending to double their lead though Anthony Contreras. 

"We lost concentration twice," Pulisic said afterward.

At that point, USMNT fans understandably feared the worst. But the Americans — who were missing injured regulars Brenden Aaronson, Sergiño Dest, Weston McKennie and several others this month — settled down after that and held on to get the result they needed.

Give Gregg Berhalter some credit

It feels strange to write that sentence after a loss. Then again, no U.S. coach has ever won in Costa Rica.

It’s no secret that a portion of the USMNT’s fan base has long had issues with Berhalter’s pedigree, tactics and personnel decisions — not to mention the process that led to the coach’s 2018 hiring. 

Most of those criticisms aren’t fair. While it’s true that Berhalter at times looked like the inexperienced international manager he was at the beginning of the Octagonal, he grew into the job as qualifying progressed, just like his historically young team. And ultimately, he did what he needed to do: Get the U.S. back to the promised land. 

That might not have happened if he had rested his starters last week in Mexico, as many observers thought he should with the must-win home game versus Panama three days later.

"He was brave in terms of the lineups that he picked," USMNT legend Clint Dempsey, now working as an analyst, said. "He went for it."

U.S. must keep improving to make noise in Qatar

If Wednesday's loss reminded fans of anything, though, it’s that the U.S. still have plenty of work to do to reach their potential in Qatar. There are still big questions at striker; none of the three center forwards brought in this month (Jesus Ferreira, Jordan Pefok and Ricardo Pepi) did nearly enough to cement a starting role in November. 

There could also be questions in goal. Zack Steffen has been Berhalter’s first choice whenever he has been healthy, but the Manchester City understudy probably wants both of the goals he conceded on Wednesday back. It’s possible that Matt Turner could surpass Steffen if he manages to win the starting job at Arsenal when he moves to England this summer.

Most of all, the U.S. must build on the cohesion they’ve begun to develop the past six months. It has gotten better, but it’s not close to where it needs to be consistently enough to assure passage to the knockout stage of the World Cup, as the 2010 and 2014 U.S. teams did. 

Much will depend on the outcome of Friday’s draw, of course. Still, with this part of their journey complete, that’s the next challenge facing Pulisic and the rest of the USMNT.

But that’s a conversation for later. 

"At the end of the day, we achieved what we wanted to achieve," said DeAndre Yedlin, the lone player on the current roster who has played in a World Cup. "I’m just so happy for this whole group, for the federation, for the country."

One of the most prominent soccer journalists in North America, Doug McIntyre has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams in more than a dozen countries, including multiple FIFA World Cups. Before joining FOX Sports, the New York City native was a staff writer for Yahoo Sports and ESPN. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.