LINEUP NOTES
USMNT vs. El Salvador, presented by Volkswagen
2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying – Final Round - Match No. 9
January 27, 2022
Lower.com Field; Columbus, Ohio
Pre-Game Coverage: 6 p.m. ET on UniMás, TUDN; 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2, ESPN+
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2, ESPN+, UniMás and TUDN
Social Media: @USMNT on Twitter and Instagram; U.S. Soccer on Facebook , The U.S. Soccer App
Tonight’s USMNT Starting XI vs. El Salvador: 1-Matt Turner, 2-Sergiño Dest, 3-Walker Zimmerman, 4-Tyler Adams, 5-Antonee Robinson, 6-Yunus Musah, 8-Weston McKennie, 10-Christian Pulisic (capt.), 15-Chris Richards, 20-Jesús Ferreira, 21-Tim Weah
Substitutes: 19-Sean Johnson, 7-Paul Arriola, 9-Gyasi Zardes, 11-Brenden Aaronson, 12-Miles Robinson, 13-Jordan Morris, 14-Cristian Roldan, 16-Mark McKenzie, 17-Luca de la Torre, 18-Ricardo Pepi, 22-Reggie Cannon, 23-Kellyn Acosta
GAME NOTES | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT EL SALVADOR
- USMNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (including this match): Christian Pulisic (43), Weston McKennie (29), Walker Zimmerman (24), Tyler Adams (23), Antonee Robinson (20), Tim Weah (19), Sergiño Dest (16), Matt Turner (14), Yunus Musah (12), Chris Richards (7), Jesús Ferreira (6)
- USMNT Starting XI WCQ Cap Numbers (including this match): Christian Pulisic (18), Tyler Adams (9), Antonee Robinson (8), Yunus Musah (6), Matt Turner (6), Tim Weah (6), Walker Zimmerman (6), Weston McKennie (5), Sergiño Dest (5), Chris Richards (4), Jesús Ferreira (3)
- With an average age of 23 years, 92 days, tonight’s lineup is the USMNT’s fourth youngest in World Cup Qualifying history. Each of the three younger Starting XIs came during the current cycle.
- The Starting XI averages 18 caps and 10 in official competition.
- Six starters began the team’s last qualifier, a 1-1 draw with Jamaica on Nov. 16 in Kingston: Tyler Adams, Yunus Musah, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Tim Weah and Walker Zimmerman.
- Nine players are age 24 and younger: Antonee Robinson (24); Weston McKennie and Christian Pulisic (23); Tyler Adams (22); Sergiño Dest, Jesús Ferreira, Chris Richards and Tim Weah (21); Yunus Musah (19)
- Five players appeared in the 0-0 draw at El Salvador that opened WCQ on Sept. 2, 2021: Tyler Adams, Sergiño Dest, Weston McKennie and Matt Turner started the match, while Antonee Robinson came off the bench in the 64th minute.
- Returning to the city where he made his USMNT debut on March 29, 2016, Christian Pulisic will captain the USMNT for the eighth time tonight. The team is 5-1-1 when Pulisic wears the armband.
- After appearing off the bench in both November qualifiers, Jesús Ferreira earns his first World Cup Qualifying start tonight.
- Tyler Adams continues his streak of appearing in each of the team’s nine qualifying matches this cycle. Substitute attacker Brenden Aaronson is the only other player to appear in each of the USMNT’s previous eight qualifiers.
- Adams is the only USMNT player on caution watch for tonight’s match. Should he receive a yellow card, he would be suspended for Sunday’s qualifier at Canada.
- Adams, Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah partner together in midfield for the fourth time during World Cup Qualifying. The trio previously worked the 2-0 win against Jamaica (October 7), 2-1 win against Costa Rica (Oct. 13) and 2-0 win against Mexico (Nov. 12).
- Chris Richards and Walker Zimmerman pair in central defense for the second consecutive qualifier.
- Substitutes Reggie Cannon and Sean Johnson are the only two players on the matchday squad without a World Cup Qualifying appearance.
- With teams limited to dressing 23 players, Brooks Lennon, Sebastian Lletget, Gabriel Slonina and DeAndre Yedlin are healthy scratches from tonight’s squad. Goalkeeper Zack Steffen has not traveled into camp and remains listed as day-to-day.
- The USMNT is 18-1-6 all-time against El Salvador and holds a 5-0-4 advantage in World Cup Qualifying.
- Columbus is hosting a record 12th USMNT World Cup Qualifier tonight. The team is 8-1-2 in qualifying matches played in the Ohio capital and 9-1-3 overall.
- Bryan Lopez of Guatemala is the center referee for tonight’s match. He has previously officiated one USMNT match, coming in a friendly against Venezuela on June 9, 2019 in Cincinnati.
