There’s gonna be a bit more chaos on Black Friday this year.
Thanks to a new wrinkle in scheduling specific to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, every single group stage match featuring the US Men’s National Team will be aired at the extremely watchable time of 2pm ET.
That includes the highly anticipated USA vs. England match on Nov. 25, the day after Thanksgiving that’s notorious for shopping, deals, and madness — Black Friday. Thankfully, it’s all but certain that any stateside fan who wants to watch the match will already have the day off from work (and plenty of time to get out of any shopping obligations).
As for the rest of the U.S. matches, it might take some finagling to get out of work early, or take a late, extended lunch break (or early lunch on the West Coast), but come this November, all three of the U.S. group stage matches will be held at 2pm, 1pm, noon, or 11am (ET-CST-MST-PST) depending on where you live.
Every U.S. match will be broadcast on Fox, making it possible to watch them all without any extra cable provider or streaming service. They will also air on the Fox Sports App.
U.S. group stage matches
The United States is in Group B, along with England, IR Iran, and the still-to-be-determined winner of the European playoff (Wales/Scotland/Ukraine), which will be played in June. In mid-April it was announced that, as of now, the Ukraine vs. Scotland first leg of the playoff will be played on June 1, with the winner of that match going on to face Wales on June 5. Ultimately, the winner of that June 5 match will earn the right to enter Group B.
All three matches will start with the pregame show beginning one hour prior to the match, at 1pm ET, with an additional 30-minute postgame show following their completion.
The U.S. matches are as follows (all 2pm ET on Fox):
- Nov. 21 — USA vs. European playoff winner
- Nov. 25 — USA vs. England
- Nov. 29 — USA vs. IR Iran
As of April 12, England is ranked No. 5 in the FIFA World Rankings, while the U.S. comes in at No. 15. IR Iran is ranked No. 21.
The other three possible entries into Group B are ranked as follows: No. 18 Wales, No. 27 Ukraine, and No. 39 Scotland. It will for sure be within the grasp of the U.S. squad to advance past the group stage as the second-highest ranked club in Group B.
As of early April, England has the third-best odds to win the entire thing at 6-1 in the Caesars Sportsbook, as reported by ESPN. Brazil is the overall favorite, followed by France, and Spain is fourth after England. The U.S. is a bit back of those odds, at 80-1. England is obviously favored to win Group B, with U.S. coming in as the second-favorite to claim the group, which would be a massive upset.
This marks the first time that the U.S. will play England in the World Cup since 2010, when they played in the group stage and came away with a 1-1 tie (or draw, if you prefer). Both teams advanced past the group stage, but the tie wound up hoisting the U.S. to first and England to second in their group.
The last time the U.S. faced off with Iran was during the 1998 World Cup in France, one billed as “the most politically charged game in World Cup history,” according to football (soccer) site fourfourtwo.com. Iran won 2-1 to eliminate the U.S. from that World Cup.
After group play
Following the group stage, should the US advance, the World Cup Round of 16 begins at 10am on Dec. 3 and goes through Dec. 6. Then, the quarterfinals start up at 10am on Dec. 9 and conclude the next day. The semifinals run Dec. 13-14, the third-place match is Dec. 17, and the finale is on Dec. 18.
You can find the entire Men’s 2022 FIFA World Cup schedule in our post detailing every single match from the group stage through the World Cup final, complete with dates, times, and how to watch.
A little more on the 2022 USMNT club
This year, the U.S. has a few key players making their mark in the prominent circuits abroad.
Let by Christian Pulisic, who plays for Chelsea in the Premier League, the U.S. has seven players abroad who are considered the core of this year’s club: Weston McKennie (Juventus), Sergino Dest (Barcelona), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig), Brendan Anderson (Red Bull Salzburg), Zack Steffen (Manchester City), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), and Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund).
However, Reyna’s presence is not guaranteed after he suffered yet another setback due to injury on April 10 and being ruled out for the rest of the season with Borussia Dortmund with a tendon and muscle injury.
Stay tuned for more coverage of the team and the World Cup in the months to come.
