The U.S. men’s national team welcomes Christian Pulisic to his lineup, but he will miss two of his key gears as he continues World Cup qualifiers against Canada.
Gio Reyna has a hamstring strain and was ruled out against Canada and Honduras on Wednesday night, while Weston McKennie was eliminated for an unspecified “team policy violation” for Sunday night’s qualifying in Nashville. Tennessee McKennie, via Instagram, confirmed it was for breaking the team’s COVID-19 protocols, but offered no further details. It is not yet known whether he will travel to Honduras after the match.
Pulisic, who missed Thursday’s 0-0 draw in El Salvador and canceled all protocols after testing positive for COVID-19, will lead the United States’ attack against a Canadian team that also equalized the first goal after the ‘1-1 at home against Honduras. However, COVID-19 is unclear in the United States, with goalkeeper Zack Steffen testing positive while on the pitch. He had already been ruled out for Sunday’s match with back spasms, and US Soccer said the positive result came after his status was determined. He will also miss Wednesday’s game in Honduras, and was replaced on the US roster by NYCFC goalkeeper Sean Johnson. Matt Turner, who three days ago had excluded La Selecta, starts again between the posts.
Canada is also missing some key muscles from its lineup, with dynamic winger Tajon Buchanan and forward Jonathan David starting on the bench. Bayern Munich sensation Alphonso Davies paves the way for John Herdman’s side, who are looking for a major win in their bid to return to the World Cup for the first time since 1986.
Stay tuned here for real-time updates and highlights of the goals and key plays from throughout the match (update for the latest updates).
Here are the formations of both teams:
More football coverage:
.