Paul Arriola was considered to be one of Gregg Berhalter’s ‘guys’. Arriola who has 10 goals in 48 caps for the USMNT was always a hard worker under Gregg Berhalter’s system. Never truly a starter he was seen as a major utility player for the coach and helped the USMNT win the Concacaf Gold Cup in 2021.
In 2022, Arriola played 6 games for the USMNT and scored twice, none bigger than his goal against Panama in World Cup qualifying in March of 2022. Arriola’s last goal for the USMNT during the 2022 cycle came in the Concacaf Nations League against Grenada.
So why is one of Gregg Berhalter’s clutch players not going to the World Cup? We try to answer that, but the former Tijuana player will still be cheering his teammates on in Qatar 2022.
Why is Paul Arriola missing the Qatar 2022 World Cup?
Arriola may have been a victim to the number of good wingers the USMNT has going to the tournament. Tim Weah, Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Brenden Aaronson, and Jordan Morris are all good at their positions. One can say that it was a toss-up between Morris and Arriola, with Morris’ finishing abilities possibly being the decider.
Paul Arriola of the United States #7 (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
A sad Arriola took to Instagram and stated, “This year my goal was to put myself in the best position possible to get to this point… The one thing I know for sure is that I will be rooting for my teammates when they play, and I hope our country comes together to support this amazing group.”
Arriola finished his first season a FC Dallas with a respectable 10 goals in 34 matches.
