World Cup hosts USMNT, Canada and Mexico will have trouble scheduling quality Friendlies over the next two years.
Thomas Deschaine (@uskeeper on X and us_keeper on Instagram)
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup less than two years away the USMNT will have limited opportunities to schedule quality matches as the rest of the Confederations compete in World Cup Qualifying and other tournaments, one of the disadvantages of hosting a World Cup.
US Soccer recently announced the USMNT will be playing home matches in the September FIFA window against Canada at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City and New Zealand at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati. US Soccer also announced one October match against Panama at Q2 Stadium in Austin Texas. It’s worth noting that Mexico could be the second match scheduled for the October FIFA window as there have been recent rumors indicating the likelihood of that happening.
The scheduling of quality opponents for the USMNT has been criticized by fans in recent years but with the creation of new Confederation tournaments in UEFA and Concacaf, the window for schedule matches between those Confederations has become increasingly challenging.
The USMNT rival to the south seems to be able to schedule additional Friendlies during a window as well as better-quality opponents. Mexico was able to schedule a third match during this June window as opposed to the USMNT which only had two matches. Mexico also scheduled three matches to USMNT one match in 2021 before the 2021 Gold Cup and yet again in 2022 scheduling three matches in the June window before the 2022 Nations League Finals along with scheduling two Friendlies before the 2022 World Cup.
I suspect over the next two years that the USMNT, Canada & Mexico will partner with one another in trying to schedule the same opponents for matches likely played in the United States, which happened during the 2023 October FIFA window when the USMNT and Mexico both played matches against Germany and Ghana.
Breaking Down of Confederation Schedules
US Soccer will have to work hard and be creative when trying to schedule matches for the 2025 windows in June, September, October, and November. It will get somewhat easier once teams in each Confederation move to the different rounds of World Cup qualifying.
Here’s a look at each Confederation by window
AFC (Asian Football Confederation)
September 2-10, 2024 – Third Round – World Cup Qualifying (3 Groups of 6 Teams)
October 7-15, 2024 – Third Round – World Cup Qualifying (3 Groups of 6 Teams)
November 11-19, 2024 – Third Round – World Cup Qualifying (3 Groups of 6 Teams)
March 17-25, 2025 – Third Round – World Cup Qualifying (3 Groups of 6 Teams)
June 2-10, 2025 – Third Round – World Cup Qualifying (3 Groups of 6 Teams)
September 1-9, 2025 – No World Cup Qualifying matches in this window
October 6-14, 2025 – Fourth Round – World Cup Qualifying (3 Match window – 2 Groups of 3 Teams)
November 10-18, 2025 – Fifth Round – AFC Playoff – Winner advances to the inter-confederation play-offs
March 23-31, 2025 – Inter-confederation play-offs (To include One team from AFC)
The USMNT has scheduled and played over 780 matches but has only played 11 away (7) or neutral (4) match Friendlies since the 1990 cycle, which is partly to do with the logistics.
CAF (Confederation of African Football)
September 2-10, 2024 – Africa Cup of Nations
October 7-15, 2024 – Africa Cup of Nations
November 11-19, 2024 – Africa Cup of Nations
March 17-25, 2025 – First Round – World Cup Qualifying (5 Groups of 6 Teams)
June 2-10, 2025 – No World Cup Qualifying matches in this window
September 1-9, 2025 – First Round – World Cup Qualifying (5 Groups of 6 Teams)
October 6-14, 2025 – First Round – World Cup Qualifying (5 Groups of 6 Teams)
November 10-18, 2025 – Second Round – Group Runners Up – Winner advances to the inter-confederation play-offs
March 23-31, 2025 – Inter-confederation play-offs (To include One team from CAF)
Similar to the AFC the USMNT has only played five away (4) or neutral (1) Friendly matches since the 1990 cycle, which has mostly to do with the party logistics.
Concacaf (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football)
September 2-10, 2024 – Concacaf Nations League
October 7-15, 2024 – Concacaf Nations League
November 11-19, 2024 – Concacaf Nations League
March 17-25, 2025 – Concacaf Nations League
June 2-10, 2025 – No World Cup Qualifying matches in this window
September 1-9, 2025 – Third Round – World Cup Qualifying (3 Groups of 4 Teams)
October 6-14, 2025 – Third Round – World Cup Qualifying (3 Groups of 4 Teams)
November 10-18, 2025 – Third Round – World Cup Qualifying (3 Groups of 4 Teams)
March 23-31, 2025 – Inter-confederation play-offs (To include Two teams from Concacaf)
The USMNT needs to avoid scheduling Friendly matches with teams from Concacaf as much as possible.
CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation)
September 2-10, 2024 – World Cup Qualifying (1 Group of 10 Teams)
October 7-15, 2024 – World Cup Qualifying (1 Group of 10 Teams)
November 11-19, 2024 – World Cup Qualifying (1 Group of 10 Teams)
March 17-25, 2025 – World Cup Qualifying (1 Group of 10 Teams)
June 2-10, 2025 – World Cup Qualifying (1 Group of 10 Teams)
September 1-9, 2025 – World Cup Qualifying (1 Group of 10 Teams)
October 6-14, 2025 – No World Cup Qualifying matches in this window
November 10-18, 2025 – No World Cup Qualifying matches in this window
March 23-31, 2025 – Inter-confederation play-offs (7th team in standings to be included as the One team from CONMEBOL)
Over the last ten years, the USMNT has played 21 Friendly matches with CONMEBOL teams which has been their best chance to get regular quality opponents.
OFC (Oceania Football Confederation)
September 2-10, 2024 – First Round – World Cup Qualifying (Lower four seeds play in a knockout series)
October 7-15, 2024 – Second Round – World Cup Qualifying (2 Groups of 4 Teams)
November 11-19, 2024 – Second Round – World Cup Qualifying (2 Groups of 4 Teams)
March 17-25, 2025 – Third Round – World Cup Qualifying (Knockout series winner qualifies for Inter-confederation play-offs)
June 2-10, 2025 – No World Cup Qualifying matches in this window
September 1-9, 2025 – No World Cup Qualifying matches in this window
October 6-14, 2025 – No World Cup Qualifying matches in this window
November 10-18, 2025 – No World Cup Qualifying matches in this window
March 23-31, 2025 – Inter-confederation play-offs (To include the One team from OFC)
The USMNT has only ever played five matches, soon to be six matches against only Australia (Former member of OFC) and New Zealand
UEFA (Union of European Football Associations)
September 2-10, 2024 – UEFA Nations League
October 7-15, 2024 – UEFA Nations League
November 11-19, 2024 – UEFA Nations League
March 17-25, 2025 – First Round – World Cup Qualifiers (Groups of 5 Teams Play) or UEFA Nations League
June 2-10, 2025 – First Round – World Cup Qualifiers (Groups of 5 Teams Play) or UEFA Nations League
September 1-9, 2025 – First Round – World Cup Qualifiers (All Groups of 4 & 5 Teams Play)
October 6-14, 2025 – No World Cup Qualifying matches in this window
November 10-18, 2025 – No World Cup Qualifying matches in this window
March 23-31, 2026 – Inter-confederation play-offs (To include the One team from OFC)
I am unsure if there will be an opportunity for the USMNT to play any of the UEFA teams that aren’t part of the groups of five teams as some of those teams are likely to be participating in the quarter-finals or promotion/relegation play-offs of the UEFA Nations League. It’s also possible that any idol teams in those groups of five will be available from a Friendly in Europe. It’s still to be determined until the groups are drawn for the UEFA World Cup qualifying.
Other Match Possibilities
In 1993 and 1994 the USMNT scheduled and played the most FIFA matches in a year in back-to-back years playing 34 matches in 1993 and 27 matches in 1994, a feat likely to never be repeated. In those years the USMNT also scheduled many matches against top-tier club teams like Bayern Munich, Kedah, and FC Zurich.
While I see this as an unlikely option we may see some closed-door sessions with club teams like we saw before the 2022 World Cup when they played Al Gharafa SC or before the 2023 Gold Cup when they played Flash FC.
With the recent failure at the 2024 Copa America, where the USMNT was grouped, the team and players need every opportunity to schedule matches against the best quality of talent to make the needed progress forward and US Soccer will need to be on the ball in making sure other nations don’t get matches scheduled before they do.
