United States

USMNT earns point on road in World Cup qualifier: Top moments

Updated Sep. 3, 2021 12:54 a.m. ET

After missing out on the 2018 World Cup, the United States men's soccer team is eager to earn a ticket back to the sport's biggest stage. The journey to do so started Thursday night.

That's when the USMNT took on El Salvador in its first qualifying match for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

For everything you'd want to know about the game, FOX Sports soccer writer Doug McIntyre had you covered with an article titled: "No Christian Pulisic, but USMNT confident heading into El Salvador match."

The game itself Thursday night was disappointing for many, as the U.S. was unable to score. But in the end, they came away with a 0-0 tie to earn a point on the road.

Here are the top moments from the game.

First of all, the atmosphere was electric at Estadio Cuscatlan in San Salvador, as the home crowd showed up in force to root on their team.

And also to boo their foes.

The Americans didn't have the services of Christian Pulisic, who wasn't in game shape after testing positive for COVID-19 two weeks ago. They also didn't have goalie Zack Steffen, who was out with back spasms. But they did have Gio Reyna, who became the second-youngest player to start a World Cup qualifier for the USMNT.

The U.S. did have some moments of threatening to score in the first half, but the score remained 0-0 at the break.

El Salvador had a good chance to score early in the second half, but goalie Matt Turner came up big.

The U.S. brought on a trio of subs in an effort to try to inject some energy into the attack.

And the U.S. did threaten late, as Kellyn Acosta nearly scored on this cross from Weston McKennie.

The effort wasn't enough to break the deadlock, however, and the match ended 0-0. It was a dose of reality for the USMNT that had been feeling good after its Gold Cup victory. But it was also a dose of reality that qualifying for the World Cup won't be easy, especially when it comes to winning road matches.

In the end, a tie isn't the end of the world, as the Americans still earned a point in a hostile environment.

Next up is a match against Canada, which takes place Sunday back home in Nashville.

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