The U.S. men’s national soccer team does not have a permanent coach, a general manager or a spot in the World Cup this summer, but it does have an impressive slate of opponents for friendlies this fall.
The U.S. Soccer Federation on Thursday announced a Sept. 11 match against archrival Mexico at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. ESPN and UniMas will provide coverage, starting at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time.
The Americans are also slated to play England on Nov. 15 at Wembley Stadium in London and reportedly will face Brazil on Sept. 7 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., and Italy on Nov. 20 at a European venue to be determined.
There are also two October matches in the works.
FIFA has set aside three windows this autumn for international matches: Sept. 3-11, Oct. 8-16 and Nov. 12-20.
The Americans are in the process of rebuilding in the wake of missing the World Cup for the first time in 32 years. Interim coach Dave Sarachan is conducting a training camp in Philadelphia this week ahead of Monday’s friendly against Bolivia at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pa. He’ll then make several roster changes before matches against Ireland on June 2 in Dublin and France on June 9 in Lyon.
Playing home friendlies against Mexico are easy moneymakers for the USSF. Unlike World Cup qualifiers, when a small stadium is necessary to control ticket sales and provide home-field advantage for an important match, a friendly is largely inconsequential and allows the federation to play in large stadiums with crowds that are typically pro-Mexico. Nissan Stadium, home to the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, holds about 69,000.
The United States is 13-7-6 against Mexico since 2000 but lost at home and drew on the road in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. El Tri leads the all-time series with a 34-18-15 record.
With the game falling in an official FIFA window, both coaches will have the flexibility to summon any player without club interference.
Who will coach the United States remains unclear. Sarachan’s contract runs through the end of June, and he is not expected to get the job offer. The coaching search will not accelerate until the USSF hires a general manager. In all likelihood, it will fill the GM slot soon and have a new coach in place before the September friendlies.
Mexico is preparing for the World Cup with tuneups against Wales (in Pasadena, Calif.), Scotland (Mexico City) and Denmark (Copenhagen). Its first match after the World Cup will come Sept. 7 at Houston’s NRG Stadium against an opponent to be announced.
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