QATAR WORLD CUP

Christmas is close but the World Cup semifinal between Croatia and Argentina is closer.

Some are older and familiar names who might be in their last World Cup, while others will be names to get used to for future World Cups.

While the key contributors aren’t limited to these five, going into the USMNT’s first game against Wales on Monday, here are the players most likely to carry the American side.

For the first time since 2014, the U.S. Men’s National Team is back in the World Cup, and will have its first game on Monday against Wales.

Qatar is a tiny nation that is smaller than Connecticut in square miles, so Qatar would be No. 49 on the list of largest states if it was a part of the U.S.

For the first time, the World Cup will be held in November and December instead of its customary time slot of June and July.

Manchester United duo Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen have both questioned the decision to stage the World Cup in Qatar after playing their last Premier League game before the tournament.

An ambassador for the World Cup in Qatar has described homosexuality as a “damage in the mind” in an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF only two weeks before the opening of the soccer tournament in the Gulf state.

Qatar has tested out a massive fleet of buses ahead of next month’s World Cup, when an estimated 1.2 million soccer fans will descend on the small Gulf nation.

Qatar World Cup organizers have admitted that workers were exploited while contracted for FIFA preparation tournaments.