2020 USMNT Schedule

In the Hexagonal for 2018, we played home then away in all five pairs. The Octagonal will have this breakdown:

3 teams will play one home game in each pair
4 teams will play one home game in five pairs, two home games in one pair, and no home games in one pair
1 team will play one home game in three pairs, two home games in two pairs, and two home games in two pairs.

Which of these would you prefer?

1: HA-HA-AH-HH-AH-AA-HA (1 window with both at home and 1 window with both away)
2: AA-HH-AH-HA-HH-AA-HA (2 windows with both at home and 2 windows with both away)
3: HH-AH-AH-HA-AA-HA-HA (1 window with both at home and 1 window with both away)
4: AH-AH-AH-HA-HA-HA-HA (1 home and 1 away in every window)
5: HA-HA-HA-AH-AH-AH-AH (1 home and 1 away in every window)
6: AH-HA-HA-AH-HA-AH-AH (1 home and 1 away in every window)
7: HA-AH-HA-AA-AH-HH-AH (1 window with both at home and 1 window with both away)
8: AH-AA-HA-AH-HA-HH-AH (1 window with both at home and 1 window with both away)

The draw will randomly assign numbers, so 1 doesn't mean the top team in the FIFA Rankings. 7 and 8 have their last game and three of their last four at home. 5 has one home game in each pair and has the home game second in the last four pairs. If you would rather play more home games early, 3 is the only team who starts with three of four at home.

 

if you look at who "advanced" last time, including the playoff, it was the home teams the last game. that's the only place where i'd buy your disbursement of H and A.

otherwise the key feature of last cycle was WHO the first two games. we opened the schedule with the top 2, took nothing, and were forever playing catchup with a new coach. we finally caught up after panama only to need a road result to finish which while something we should have been capable -- we took 4 pts from both middle pack sides -- is not a gimmee.

so i'd think the concrete specifics of WHO matter early on -- particularly with a coach who stuttered out of a NL group on tiebreak -- because it could be friendly or mean to him and by extension us. like, i think he had very friendly groups for NL and Gold Cup that flattered him.

i think your stuff tends to even out over time but can specifically matter if you end up in a position where you need a tough result and the arrangement deals you a long trip and a finishing "A" fixture.

imagine if we had to get a result away to Canada to close last year. on that i buy that the arrangement dealt us Cuba away Canada home and that was ideal. but even that might be exaggerated as review of the NL group schedule would find that Canada got to rest and finish with one fixture from the last paired date and still couldn't get the road result.

also, to me schedule concerns tend to be more the dwelling of the mediocre. the 2014 team has to play Panama away to close but it doesn't matter because they already clinched. mexico in 2018 doesn't need its last game. we won, they lost, it mattered more to the other teams than themselves.

 

First thought: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

 

3 of the last 4 at home is always the best option. Maybe we can even have fans in the stands

 

Tough finishing holes ...

 

So A/F is probably El Salvador or T&T.
B/E is probably Canada or Haiti or maybe Nicaragua.
C/D is probably Curacao, Guatemala, or Panama.

 

seems to me like they are going to start with T&T and Canada which will be interesting.

 

Seems we should have a friendly schedule announced soon, no?

 

Soccerway and Wikipedia say that Mexico is hosting Costa Rica on September 30 and Mexico is going to Netherlands on October 7. Flash Score doesn't have those games schedule. None of U.S. Soccer, Soccerway, or Flash Score have friendlies scheduled.

 

In the US, yes In Europe, probably good to go.

 

From the article...
"All of them would take place in Europe"

 

Anywhere in the US is good to go.

 

That would depend on if the players were still in a bubble from playing in MLS plus I think we would have trouble getting our Euro players here

 

Separate US-based and Euro-based squads?

 

Looks like an all Euro-based squad for the November window. Rumors of games vs. Wales and New Zealand.

October would be an all Domestic side with games presumably somewhere in the U.S. EUFA & CONMEBOL teams aren't available, as they have Nation's League and WCQ respectively. AFC and CAF cancelled their qualifiers, so those teams are "available". Not sure if any would come over, but other than China and Iran, I do not see any travel restrictions for those coming. Maybe we could convince S.Korea and someone like Qatar?

CONCACAF is supposed to start WCQ for the bottom 30, so it leaves only Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Jamaica as options. Mexico is already booked so they are out. C.R. has a game with Mexico but free for another. Honduras and Jamaica can put together a team of MLS/USL players together of at least some quality.

CONCACAF said October WCQ might be cancelled, so theoretically that frees up Canada or Panama or ... But if that does happen, it's more likley we don't play any friendlies in the window either. It's less than 30 days out, so sadly it looks more and more like zilch.

 

Thanks. Loses some of the value of the friendlies as the "first" team ultimately needs to be integrated, but it makes plenty of sense under the circumstances as well as builds the pool.

 

Canada, Martinique, and whoever emerges from the Haiti/St. Vincent/Bermuda/Barbados prelims.

 

an all-euro team is likely better than the "first" team anyway.

 

I’m seeing wales 11/12 & panama 11/16. And I only see them on UniMas en espanol. Is that right??

Edit: correction... the first one seems to be on FS1 too