USMNT Qualify for the world cup in a night of mixed emotions

The U.S. men’s national team has just punched their ticket to Qatar despite a loss to Costa Rica.

The USMNT’s match ended in an upsetting 2-0 defeat Wednesday night in San Jose, Costa Rica, yet they still achieved their ultimate goal: qualifying for the World Cup.

Following a superb performance against Panama, which included a Christian Pulisic hat trick, the stars and stripes needed a colossal disaster to occur in order to not qualify (losing by six goals or more).

After Panama scored two goals within eight minutes at the beginning of the second half, U.S. fans paused the celebrations, and flashbacks of October 2017 vaguely lingered in the air.

Time ticked away, and the final whistle sounded in the 94th minute. After 3,123 days since last qualifying for the World Cup, the USMNT has officially booked its ticket to Qatar.

Jorge Garcia is a sophomore at OSU and was watching the game with his roommates. He was relieved when the game ended and was proud of what this team accomplished.

“We knew this team was going to qualify and we were all so happy when it became official,” Garcia shared. “The result doesn’t matter in the end because the ultimate goal was accomplished, which was to qualify for the World Cup.”

The USMNT could have made history with a win, but Los Ticos still remain undefeated against the Americans.

The underwhelming performance and incredible atmosphere of the home fans translated to the perplexed mood of the U.S. squad. Several players, including Christian Pulisic, were naturally disappointed at the result but pleased with the overall journey.

The expectations for this golden generation of players were always high, especially after being crowned champions of the CONCACAF Nations League and the Gold Cup in the summer.

Despite an anticlimactic finish to this World Cup qualifying cycle, the youngest U.S. team to ever qualify for a World Cup did not disappoint the fans and got the job done.

Josiah Ireland is a graduate student who plays for the Oklahoma State men’s club soccer team. He has fully supported this team throughout their journey and believes they will continue to succeed.

“Too many times are young teams given a time limit on [its] success before losing support from the fans,” Ireland revealed. “As someone who loves to play and watch this sport, these guys are an inspiration to the younger generations and continue to overcome barriers.”

With no World Cup qualifying games remaining, USMNT fans and players have marked their schedules for the World Cup finals draw on Friday.

While tonight’s result indicates there may not be any formal celebration or parade for this U.S. team back home, they are looking forward to make history come this November.