There is no doubt that the United States has one of its best generations of players, perhaps the best, ahead of the big event coming up at the end of the year: Qatar 2022. The FIFA World Cup is generating excitement among the team and the fans.
The good news for all USMNT fans, in addition to having players of the caliber of Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic, Juventus‘ Weston McKennie, Middlesbrough’s Zack Steffen and Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reyna, is that the team will have a secret weapon in Qatar 2022.
An advantage that can boost Gregg Berhalter’s team, if they know how to use it, and that is that unlike the rest of the teams that will play in the upcoming FIFA World Cup, except for the hosts, the United States would be playing at home in any of the 8 stadiums where the 64 matches of the tournament will be held.
Qatar 2022 Stadiums
Not since the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, in which only 6 stadiums were used, has a FIFA World Cup had so few venues to host its matches as will be the case in Qatar 2022. The 22nd edition of this tournament will have only 8 stadiums; an abysmal difference compared to the 12 used in Russia 2018 or 20 in Korea-Japan 2002.
Another novelty of the upcoming FIFA World Cup is that of the total number of stadiums available to host the 64 matches that the competition will consist of, only 1 is not new. The Khalifa International Stadium was inaugurated in 1976, but underwent a spectacular renovation in order to host the World Cup.
The remaining 7 venues are either brand new or built for the purpose of hosting the 2022 World Cup. Among them is the imposing Lusail Stadium, the largest in the tournament with a capacity for 80,000 spectators, which will host the decisive match of the tournament to be played on December 18.
Al Bayt Stadium. (David Ramos/Getty Images)
American-made grass in Qatar 2022
According to information from ESPN, a source revealed that almost two months before the inauguration of the event, the organizers of the upcoming FIFA World Cup will proceed to remove the turf from all the stadiums that will host the matches of the maximum soccer tournament. This will be done in order to replace it with a better quality grass of American origin.
The American seed, with a cultivation process in Georgia, was approved by FIFA and will be used as a surface in all stadiums and training grounds of the 32 National Teams that will compete for the glory of soccer in Qatar 2022.
The qualities of this American grass were explained to ESPN by David Graham, who is in charge of the stadiums that will be used in the upcoming FIFA World Cup: “The American grass seed gives you a more robust playing surface. With the climate and conditions in Qatar, the playing surface wouldn’t hold together without the right grass seed.“
It should be noted that the climatic conditions in which Qatar 2022 will be played are of considerable heat. This is despite the fact that it will be played from November 20 to December 18, since if the event had been scheduled in the middle of the year, as tradition dictates, the weather conditions would have been very hot.
Given this scenario, all Qatari stadiums in which the World Cup will be played will have means of high-end cooling technology, which will create an ideal atmosphere for playing and watching soccer matches. However, this generates demands for greater resistance and robustness to the grass of the fields on which the duels will be played, to ensure durability throughout the tournament, the show and especially the physical integrity of players and referees.
Al Thumama Stadium pitch. (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Stadiums in which the USMNT will play in the upcoming World Cup
After the tremendous disappointment of being left out of Russia 2018, and thus breaking a tradition of 7 consecutive World Cups played, the United States will attend Qatar 2022 with a team full of players in the best leagues in the world. The complicated part of their scenario is that the team was paired with England, Wales and Iran, all very competitive rivals.
Thus, the USMNT’s road to the 2022 World Cup will begin on November 21 at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium against Wales, continue on November 25 against England at the Al Bayt Stadium and conclude its participation in the group stage against Iran at the Al Thumama Stadium on November 29, provided it qualifies for the Round of 16.
The USMNT in a friendly match in 2022. (Kyle Rivas/Getty Images)
