Wales will end their 64-year wait to make a World Cup appearance when they take on the United States on Monday night at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.
The United States also were on a brief World Cup hiatus as they surprisingly missed out on qualification in 2018.
Which team can make their World Cup return sweeter?
Qualification was not a smooth ride for the Stars and Stripes this time as well. The USA finished third in the CONCACAF qualification zone and nicked the last available automatic qualifying zone. They were level on points with fourth-placed Costa Rica and had to rely on goal difference to make the cut.
The US head coach Gregg Berhalter made some big calls as he left out Zack Steffen, Paul Arriola, and Ricardo Pepi from the World Cup squad. But Berhalter might have felt the urge to make some changes after the USMNT had some unconvincing results in the warm up games.
After confirming their tickets to Qatar, the US came out on top of Morocco and Grenada before drawing with Uruguay. But a poor string of results followed which saw them narrowly avoiding defeat against El Salvador, falling to a 2-0 defeat to Japan and a draw against Saudi Arabia.
The USA played knockout stage World Cup football in four of their last seven appearances in the tournament. But to avoid getting eliminated from the group stages for the first time since 2006, they need to end their barren run of nine games against European teams. So, the USA will mark Wales, who sit six steps below them in the latest FIFA rankings, as a beatable opposition.
Wales’s recent form should provide further encouragement for the US. The Dragons are yet to taste victory since ensuring their qualification with a 1-0 playoffs victory over Ukraine. Wales managed to avoid defeat in only one of their six UEFA Nations League matches.
But Wales will draw inspiration from their last two major international tournament appearances. In Euro 2016, they stunned the world by reaching the semis. Their Euro 2020 campaign was not so magical, but they managed to survive the group stages before losing 4-0 to Denmark in the round of 16.
Team News
Matt Turner is expected to be the USA’s number-one goalkeeping choice after Gregg Berhalter decided to leave Zack Steffen at home. Weston McKennie did not play for Juventus for over a month. But, the midfielder should be ready to shoulder the responsibilities in the middle of the park for the US.
Christian Pulisic is not enjoying his time at Chelsea at the moment, but he is nailed on with a starting XI position for the US. Timothy Weah, Jesus Ferreira, and Gio Reyna are contenders for starring alongside Pulisic in the US attack.
In the Welsh camp, the limelight is always on Gareth Bale. The 33-year-old was instrumental in the World Cup qualifying campaign for his country.
He bagged a brace in the playoffs semifinal against Austria before forcing Andriy Yarmolenko’s own goal in the final. Bale is now no stranger to American soccer as he moved to MLS outfit LAFC in the summer. But he is yet to be a regular there.
But he will be central to Rob Page’s plans once again and might get to play 90-minutes in all three of Wales’s group matches. Joe Allen will also return in midfield, who has been out since September because of an injury.
Our Prediction
The fight for the second spot in Group B should be a close one if England live up to expectations and win the group. So, both teams will feel that they cannot afford to lose this one. A 1-1 draw seems to be the likeliest outcome.
