Update: USMNT to play Japan, Saudi Arabia in September

The United States Men’s National Team has one international window left before they head to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, and it looks like they will begin with two quality opponents who will also be in the tournament. Today, the Japanese Federation announced that Japan will play the USMNT in a friendly on September 23rd. The kickoff time and venue are not announced, but Japan says that the match will take place somewhere in Europe.

The USMNT have only played Japan, ranked 23rd in the world, only twice before. The most recent was a 3-2 victory in a domestic friendly back in November 2006. The other was a 3-1 loss in the Kirin Cup in March 1993.

U.S. Soccer also announced that they will play Saudi Arabia on September 27th at Estadio Nueva Condomina in Murcia, Spain. It will be the 7th time they play Saudi Arabia, ranked 49th in the world, with the USMNT currently holding a 3-2-1 all-time record (W-L-D).

We have known for a few weeks that the United States had planned to play their September window matches in Europe, and early reports were that one of the locations was Germany. However, with both Japan and the United States officially announcing the match but not a location, it seems that venue may be up in the air. Still, the USMNT will have two very good opponents as part of their final preparations for the World Cup.

Hit the comments to discuss this upcoming matches for the USMNT.