WALKER ZIMMERMAN

A World Cup jammed into the middle of the European season isn’t ideal for the United States.

The U.S. World Cup roster had some surprises: Ricardo Pepi was left off along with Zack Steffen, Paul Arriola and Jordan Pefok.

Josh Sargent is back on the U.S. roster for the first time in a year, picked at forward along with Ricardo Pepi and Jesús Ferreira for the Americans’ final two World Cup warmup matches.

Carlos Vela scored in the third minute and Raúl Ruidíaz’s converted a penalty kick in the 73rd minute in the Major League Soccer All-Star team’s 2-1 victory over Mexico’s Liga MX on Wednesday night.

U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter did not have forward Christian Pulisic and midfielder Tyler Adams dress for a World Cup warmup against 170th-ranked Grenada in the CONCACAF Nations League.

U.S. captain Christian Pulisic was critical of the level of American support from the crowd of 19,512 at TQL Stadium during a 3-0 win over Morocco on in the first of four World Cup warmup matches in June.

Bayern Munich midfielder Malik Tillman is switching affiliation from Germany to the United States and is among 27 players invited to the Americans’ next-to-last training camp ahead of the World Cup.

The U.S. Soccer Federation has reached milestone agreements to pay its men’s and women’s teams equally.

Christian Pulisic and Tyler Adams had relief on their faces as they headed straight from the stadium for a charter jet to Europe and weekend club games Coach Gregg Berhalter had already headed off for a red-eye to New York and a 12 1/2-hour connecting flight to Friday’s World Cup draw in Doha.

The United States men are returning to the World Cup after the anguish of missing the 2018 tournament, clinching a berth for this year’s championship in Qatar despite a 2-0 loss to Costa Rica on the final night of qualifying.

Forward Jesús Ferreira, winger Paul Arriola, midfielder Luca de la Torre and right back Shaq Moore entered the United States’ starting lineup for a World Cup qualifier against Panama as coach Gregg Berhalter made four changes.

The United States escaped a half-full Estadio Azteca with a gritty 0-0 draw against Mexico and moved into position to all but clinch a World Cup berth with a victory at home against Panama this weekend.

Zack Steffen was in goal as U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter used an “A” team lineup and changed five starters for a World Cup qualifier against Mexico at Estadio Azteca.

Gio Reyna, Jordan Pefok and Ethan Horvath are back for the United States’ final World Cup qualifiers but Sergiño Dest appears likely to miss the three games.

The U.S. beat winless Honduras 3-0 in a World Cup qualifying match.

United States forward Timothy Weah was unable to travel to Canada for Sunday’s World Cup qualifier because he did not meet the vaccination requirements to cross the Canadian border.

Antonee Robinson broke through the freeze in the air and the U.S. offense, scoring in the 52nd minute to lift the United States over El Salvador 1-0 and kept the Americans on track for a return to the World Cup.

Jordan Morris, Tim Weah, Sergiño Dest and Gyasi Zardes returned from injuries to make the U.S. roster ahead of the next three World Cup qualifiers.

A kickoff temperature of about 25 degrees is forecast for the United States’ World Cup qualifier against El Salvador at Columbus, Ohio, on Jan. 27.

Tim Weah’s 11th-minute goal was matched by Michail Antonio’s spectacular 34-yard strike in the 22nd minute, leaving the United States with a 1-1 draw against Jamaica in a World Cup qualifier.

The U.S. soccer team has a Jekyll and Hyde personality that makes it difficult to determine which will show for a World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica in Columbus, Ohio.

World Cup qualifying has become a game for the young, with stamina to withstand travel and short recovery time.

Forward Jozy Altidore and goalkeeper Brad Guzan are on a preliminary 59-man United States roster with a mostly junior varsity appearance for next month’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean.