USA World Cup 2022 squad list, fixtures and latest odds

Yunus Musah has revealed he had to move away from Arsenal as he saw no pathway to the first-team, then rejected England when he was offered international football as a teenager with USA.

The Valencia midfielder, 19, on Friday will face the country that he played for at Under-18 level after going through the system at St George’s Park. But his determination to start in senior football saw him move to La Liga, then Gregg Berhalter selected the Bronx-born player for the United States.

“I felt at the time maybe that I wasn’t able to be in the Arsenal first team so early,” Musah said. “We’ll never know but that was one of the reasons I chose to move to Spain. The Arsenal team was really good and I felt at my age I could play first-team football and there was the chance to move to Valencia. Things turned out great.”

Musah has clubs interested in bringing him back to the Premier League, such is his progress at Valencia where he is playing regular first-team football. He says the decision to turn down England was difficult, given the role the country had played in his upbringing after moving over from Italy aged nine.

“I made the decision because I was born in the US,” he said. “That was one of the main things. Also I got the opportunity at such a young age was something that I wanted to take. It was great when the manager called me and gave me that opportunity.

"I played for England for a few years. I had a really nice time with them, I have a lot of respect for them, for everything they've done for me,” he said. “Gareth Southgate I never had any conversations with, no. That decision was very difficult, because, as I said, I had a great time with England and that country did a lot for me, so when the time came to make the decision it was difficult."

Musah is friends with Jude Bellingham from the England age-groups and also Bukayo Saka from Arsenal. With England having the knockout stages within their grasp, USA need a result after their draw with Wales. Berhalter’s squad have a belated Thanksgiving meal on Saturday and are determined to be in high spirits for it.

USA World Cup 2022 squad

The USA World Cup squad was announced on November 9, and represents the second-youngest squad in the tournament, with an average age of 25 years.

Goalkeepers: Ethan Horvath (Luton Town), Sean Johnson (New York City FC.), Matt Turner (Arsenal)

Defenders: Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Sergino Dest (AC Milan), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Shaq Moore (Nashville SC), Tim Ream (Fulham), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami CF), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)

Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United.), Kellyn Acosta (LAFC), Tyler Adams (Leeds United), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC)

Forwards: Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Giovanni Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Josh Sargent (Norwich City), Timothy Weah (Lill), Haji Wright (Antalyaspor)

Who are likely to be the star names?

Christian Pulisic is the standout name in this USA side. He captains the team, which is where he gets the nickname ‘Captain America’, and was his side’s leading scorer during qualifying.

While he may have struggled at Chelsea recently, Pulisic is still the man that fans and team-mates look to make a difference for the USA. His national team would like Graham Potter, the Chelsea manager, to give him a little more game time.

Behind him there is a group of promising young players who play for some of Europe’s biggest teams, such as AC Milan full-back Sergino Dest, Juventus' Weston McKennie, and Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder Giovanni Reyna.

Premier League fans will be familiar with Brenden Aaronson and Tyler Adams, who are both mainstays of the Leeds squad. Should Pulisic struggle for form, Adams is a ready-made back-up.

What are USA's fixtures?

Latest Team USA news

United States boss Gregg Berhalter called England a "formidable opponent" and praised Gareth Southgate to the hilt - despite being ignoring by the England manager ahead of Friday's World Cup clash.

An impressive 6-2 victory against Iran in Monday's Group B opener means Southgate's men will seal progress to the last 16 with a match to spare if they beat the US in Al Khor.

The States head into Friday's Al Bayt Stadium encounter looking to build on their 1-1 draw with Wales but Berhalter is wary of the threat posed by England, who he called a "scary" prospect in the build-up.

The US boss has praised Southgate for making the England shirt "a cape rather than a straitjacket" since taking over at a low ebb in 2016, before leading them to the World Cup semi-finals and last year's Euros final.

"I think when he first took over it was very similar to the position that I first took over," said Berhalter, who was appointed in late 2018 as the US rebuilt after failing to reach that year's World Cup.

"Trying to reshape the identity of the team, refocus, working with a younger group of players, so in that case very similar.

"Just following some of the things over the last months, the pressure in the English media, or in England in general, is tremendous and I think that's different.

"These guys (in the US media) give me a hard time every once in a while, but I don't think it's of the magnitude that Gareth gets it.

"But we all know this is a result-orientated business and we're all held accountable for results on the field.

"I think he's done a great job. I've been saying for the last year-and-a-half that his record at major tournaments has been outstanding and there's no denying that - fourth place finish in 2018, second place finish at the Euros.

"He's done a great job with his team. They got off to a great start and they're a formidable opponent. It's going to be a difficult game for us."

Friday's competing managers established a relationship four years ago when Berhalter contacted Southgate seeking advice after taking the US post.

They have remained in touch ever since, although the England manager has been harder to reach since April's World Cup draw pitted them against one another.

"I've been WhatsApp-ing him but I haven't seen the blue checkmark, so I don't know what's going on," Berhalter said with a smile.

"We kind of took a hiatus. We'll pick up our relationship after tomorrow."

There will be a strong Premier League contingent in the US side on Friday, with Chelsea's Christian Pulisic and Arsenal goalkeeper Matt Turner joined by the Fulham duo of Antonee Robinson and Tim Ream.

Leeds' Brenden Aaronson and Tyler Adams join them in the set-up, with the latter hoping to skipper the side to a famous win on Friday.

"It would mean a lot," the 23-year-old captain said as the US look to maintain their unbeaten World Cup record against England, which includes a famous 1-0 win in 1950 and 1-1 draw 60 years later.

"I think most importantly it would mean a lot to the team because we've been trying to progress this thing along for the past three years.

"We've been moving in the right direction so I think ultimately capitalising tomorrow would mean we're continuing to move in the right direction."

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Latest odds

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USA are currently a best price of 279/1 to win the World Cup.