Official: USMNT line up friendly matches against European and African rivals
The US Men’s team will play a couple of preparation matches in October on home soil, with Connecticut and Nashville hosting the games.
In spite of all the changes affecting the USMNT’s coaching department and and uncertainty that goes with it, work continues behind the scenes to find quality rivals to complete the fixtures calendar beyond this summer’s Concacaf tournaments. Today US Soccer officially announced two friendly games which will be played on home soil this fall. After the summer with Nations League Final Four and Gold Cup 2023, friendlies against Germany and Ghana have been confirmed for October.
Like Mexico, Costa Rica and Canada, the USMNT will not have to play the group stage of the 2023-24 League of Nations which leaves a couple of dates free in October which US Soccer will make the most of to keep the team active, and get a little closer to their fans with two preparation matches against Germany and Ghana - two nations that have not met for several years. Their last meeting with Germany was in 2015 and with Ghana, 2017 - both summer friendlies.
This fall’s friendly games will be played in East Hartford,Connecticut and Nashville, Tennessee.
The first of them, against Germany will take place at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field - an opportunity for fans to see USMNT players who play in the best leagues in the world such as Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna or Joe Scally up against the four-time world champions. The game will kick off at the earlier time of 3 p.m. ET. This will be the 12th meeting between the two nations and the seventh time they have met in a friendly.
USMNT vs Germany: previous meetings
- 13.6.93 USMNT 3-4 Germany (US Cup)
- 18.12.93 USMNT 0-3 Germany (International friendly)
- 15.6.98 Germany 2-0 USMNT (World Cup France 98 - Group stage)
- 6.2.99 USMNT 3-0 Germany (International friendly)
- 30.7.99 USMNT 2-0 Germany (Condeferations Cup)
- 27.3.02 Germany 4-2 USMNT (International friendly)
- 21.6.02 Germany 1-0 USMNT (World Cup Korea/Japan 2002 - Quarter finals)
- 22.3.06 Germany 4-1 USMNT (International friendly)
- 2.6.13 USMNT 4-3 Germany (International friendly)
- 26.6.14 USMNT 0-1 Germany (World Cup Brazil 2014 - Group stage)
- 10.6.15 Germany 1-2 USMNT (International friendly)
First meeting with Ghana in six years
The second friendly will be against Ghana, who are currently 60th in the FIFA/Coca Cola world ranking. It will be the first time that the USMNT will have played at Nashville SC’s Geodis Park - a franchise that recently joined MLS. The match will kick off at 8:30 p.m. ET. The Ghanaian team’s star players include Iñaki Williams (Athletic Club), Thomas Partey (Arsenal), Mohammed Kudus (Ajax) and Tariq Lamptey (Brighton).
The USMNT and Ghana have met on a total of six occasions, with the Africans winning all but the two most recent games.
USMNT vs Ghana: previous meetings
- 17.6.83 Ghana 5-0 USMNT (President's Cup)
- 15.9.83 Ghana 1-0 USMNT (Pestabola Merdeka)
- 22.6.06 Ghana 2-1 USMNT (World Cup Germany 06 - Group stage)
- 26.6.10 USMNT 1-2 Ghana (World Cup South Africa 2010 - Last 16)
- 16.6.14 Ghana 1-2 USMNT (World Cup Brazil 2014 - Group stage)
- 1.7.17 USMNT 1-1 Ghana (International friendly)
What is expected of the summer for USMNT?
B.J. Callaghan was appointed as head coach following the departure of interim coach Antony Hudson on Tuesday. Callaghan worked as Gregg Berhalter’s assistant and strategy analyst from 2019 to 2022 and continued with the USMNT in an auxiliary role under Hudson. The 41-year-old will head the team in this summer’s Concacaf Nations League and Gold Cup tournaments but it remains to be seen whether he will be considered as a long-term candidate to continue with the project until the 2026 World Cup. Persinal changes are also expected with the senior side with new players such as Folarin Balogun and Timothy Tillman in line to be handed their debuts.