Because in the group completed by England and Iran, a win for both teams would be an important step towards the knockout phase. In the duel of the 16th in the FIFA world rankings with number 19, there are no real favorites on paper.
US coach Gregg Berhalter, who sees a certain arrogance in his own country, agrees. “I think Wales is underestimated, at least in the American media,” said the former centre-back. “When I look at their squad, I basically see a Premier League side.”
About Austria to the World Cup
Play-off victories against Austria and Ukraine saw Wales make it to a World Cup for the second time since 1958. Gareth Bale, Joe Allen, Aaron Ramsey, Wayne Hennessey, Ben Davies, Chris Gunther, Jonny Williams and Daniel Ward are eight players who made it to the semi-finals of the 2016 European Championships in France. Nevertheless, coach Rob Page’s ‘Dragons’ are a predominantly young side who have also been without a win since beating Ukraine 1-0 in June.
FIFA World Cup 2022 Group B
Monday, 8 p.m., live on ORF1 and on the live blog
USA – Wales
Al-Rajjan, Education City Stadium, SR Al-Jassim (QAT)
Possible lineups:
USA: Turner – Dest, Zimmermann, Ream, Robinson – McKennie, Adams, Musah – Reyna, Ferreira, Pulisic
Wales: Hennessey – Rodon, Mepham, B. Davies – C. Roberts, Ampadu, Wilson, Ramsey, N. Williams – Bale, James
Captain Bale joined MLS champions Los Angeles FC this summer after being sidelined at Real Madrid. He not only proved that he can still do it when it matters most in the 2-1 win over the ÖFB-Elf, but also in the MLS final two weeks ago. Da Bale scored in the 128th minute and only just sent his team to penalties, where LAFC finally prevailed against Philadelphia Union. “He’s only just gotten there and has already done what he always does,” said Wales forward Daniel James.
Bale feels fit
As with almost all assignments in America, Bale only came off the bench in the final due to a lack of fitness. He was only in the starting eleven twice. “Every footballer wants to play as much as possible, but we’re clever and we’ve made a build-up for the last important phase of the season,” explained Bale. “Hopefully that will mean that I’m in top form at the World Cup.” While Bale now says he’s back at 100 percent, midfielder Allen could miss the USA game. The 32-year-old from Swansea has not played a game since mid-September with a hamstring muscle injury.
Great expectations for the 2026 World Cup organizers
In the USA, observers say that the current team is the most talented in a long time, perhaps even the best in the country so far. In 2018 the USA missed the tournament in Russia, since then Berhalter has been trying to rebuild with a view to the home World Cup in 2026. Thanks to hopefuls like Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Weston McKennie (Juventus Turin), Giovanni Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Sergino Dest (AC Milan), Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Timothy Weah (Lille) and Yunus Musah (Valencia) couldn’t really go wrong.
Nonetheless, as in the past, the American form curve shows many ups and downs. In CONCACAF qualifying, for example, they beat Mexico at home but lost in Panama. There have only been two games against Wales so far – both friendly. In 2003 the USA won 2-0, in 2020 there was a goalless draw.