The U.S. men’s national team Tuesday announced its September friendlies, which will see the USMNT face Japan and Saudi Arabia in roughly three months.
Both games will take place on neutral ground in Europe. The USMNT will play Japan on September 23, with the venue as yet unannounced. ESPN and Univision will carry the game live in English and Spanish, respectively.
On September 27, the USMNT will face Saudi Arabia in Spain, with Estadio Nueva Condomina in Murcia hosting the match. That game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 and Univision in English and Spanish, with the kickoff times for both games yet to be announced.
“We are pleased to have the opportunity to measure ourselves against fellow World Cup participants,” said USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter in a press release. “Together with the two games in June against Morocco and Uruguay, we will have experienced a great diversity of styles and quality opponents to help us prepare for what lies ahead at the World Cup in November.”
USMNT vs. Japan
The USMNT has only played Japan twice, winning 3-2 in San Francisco in 2006 on goals from Clint Dempsey, Eddie Pope, and Taylor Twellman. Before that, they lost 3-1 in a 1993 friendly tournament in Japan, with legendary Japanese forward Kazuyoshi “King Kazu” Miura—who is still, 29 years later, playing professional soccer—scoring twice.
They rolled through AFC qualifying for Qatar 2022, conceding just six times in 18 games. Their squad will likely include Liverpool’s Takumi Minamino, Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Daichi Kamada, fresh off of winning the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt.
USMNT vs. Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia and the USMNT have played more often, with the U.S. holding a 3W-1D-2L record in the series. Those games include Gregg Berhalter’s first cap, which came in 1994 just after he signed his first pro deal with PEC Zwolle in the Netherlands.
Saudi Arabia shared a group with Japan in the final round of AFC qualifying, winning Group B by a single point. Their squad is entirely based in the Saudi Arabian league, and is packed with players in their prime years. While their squad for June only included one player under the age of 22, it also has just one player over 30.