Costa Rica vs. USMNT
2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying – Final Round - Match No. 14
March 30, 2022
Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica; San José, Costa Rica
Pre-Game Coverage: 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network, Paramount+, Universo, Peacock
Kickoff: 9 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network, Paramount+, Universo, Peacock
Social Media: @USMNT on Twitter and Instagram; U.S. Soccer on Facebook , The U.S. Soccer App
Tonight’s USMNT Starting XI at Costa Rica: 1-Zack Steffen, 2-DeAndre Yedlin, 3-Walker Zimmerman (capt.), 4-Tyler Adams, 5-Antonee Robinson, 6-Yunus Musah, 9-Ricardo Pepi, 10-Christian Pulisic, 12-Miles Robinson, 21-Tim Weah, 23-Kellyn Acosta
Substitutes: 18-Ethan Horvath, 7-Shaq Moore, 8-Cristian Roldan, 11-Gio Reyna, 13-Jordan Morris, 14-Luca de la Torre, 15-Aaron Long, 16-George Bello, 17-Jordan Pefok, 19-James Sands, 20-Jesús Ferreira, 22-Erik Palmer-Brown
GAME NOTES | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT COSTA RICA
- The U.S. Men’s National Team can clinch qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup tonight via two different scenarios: 1) USA win, draw or loss to Costa Rica by less than six goals -OR- 2) If the USA loses by six goals or more to Costa Rica, it could still qualify directly to Qatar if Mexico loses to El Salvador in their final World Cup qualifying match and the U.S. maintains its goal differential advantage
- USMNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (including this match): DeAndre Yedlin (73), Kellyn Acosta (51), Christian Pulisic (48), Zack Steffen (29), Walker Zimmerman (28), Tyler Adams (27), Antonee Robinson (25), Tim Weah (22), Miles Robinson (20), Yunus Musah (16), Ricardo Pepi (11)
- USMNT Starting XI WCQ Cap Numbers (including this match): Christian Pulisic (23), DeAndre Yedlin (19), Kellyn Acosta (19), Tyler Adams (13), Antonee Robinson (13), Miles Robinson (11), Walker Zimmerman, (10), Yunus Musah (10), Ricardo Pepi (10), Tim Weah (9) Zack Steffen (6).
- Tonight’s Starting XI has an average age of 24 years, 142 days, meaning 13 out of 14 U.S. lineups have been age 24 or younger during 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.
- Over 14 matches during 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, the USMNT Starting XI averaged 23 years, 302 days – the youngest in team history. The previous youngest came during 1990 qualifying, averaging 24 years, 66 days over 10 matches.
- The lineup averages 30 caps and 18 appearances in official competition.
- Gregg Berhalter makes four changes to the USMNT lineup that started the 5-1 win against Panama on Sunday. Tim Weah and DeAndre Yedlin return after serving one-game suspensions for yellow card accumulation, while Kellyn Acosta and Ricardo Pepi are also back in the XI.
- With their starts tonight, Tyler Adams and Antonee Robinson will finish the Octagonal as the USMNT’s joint leaders in appearances, playing in 13 of 14 matches.
- Following his hat trick performance on Sunday, Christian Pulisic now has 10 career goals in the Final Round of Concacaf World Cup Qualifying, ranking him fourth on the all-time scoring charts since the 1998 cycle. With one match left in the 2022 Octagonal, he trails only Carlos Pavon (12 goals in 18 Final Round matches; Honduras), Jozy Altidore (11 goals in 28 Final Round matches; USA) and Paulo Wanchope (11 goals in 20 Final Round matches; Costa Rica).
- Pulisic’s hat trick also took his overall total in WCQ to 12 goals, tying him with Eddie Johnson for fourth on the USMNT's all-time WCQ scoring list. He sits one goal back of Landon Donovan for third on the USA’s WCQ scoring list (13 goals).
- Walker Zimmerman captains the USMNT for the fifth time tonight. The team is 3-1-0 in four previous matches when Zimmerman wears the armband.
- Zimmerman and Miles Robinson will pair in central defense for the seventh time overall and sixth in qualifying. The USMNT has gone 5-0-1 when the duo partners at the back, conceding just one goal in six matches.
- Kellyn Acosta, Christian Pulisic and DeAndre Yedlin are the three players in the Starting XI who also appeared in the USA’s last World Cup Qualifying finale on Oct. 10, 2017 in Trinidad and Tobago.
- Forward Paul Arriola (left groin tightness) is not dressed for tonight’s match. Midfielder Gianluca Busio, defender Reggie Cannon and goalkeeper Sean Johnson are also not part of today’s squad. Teams are allowed five substitutes in three moments.
- The USA is 19-16-6 all-time against Costa Rica and trails Los Ticos by a 7-11-3 mark in qualifying.
- The USA is 0-9-1 in 10 previous qualifiers played on Costa Rican soil, with the only result coming in a 1-1 draw on May 26, 1985 in Alajuela.
- Drew Fisher of Canada is the referee for tonight’s match. He previously officiated the USMNT’s 2-0 win against El Salvador in the Gold Cup quarterfinals on July 19, 2017 in Philadelphia.
