U.S. Soccer's awarding of the United States-Mexico men's FIFA World Cup qualifying match to TQL Stadium and Cincinnati was an acknowledgement of the city's soccer success, and FC Cincinnati's role in it.
Staging the high-pressure match in Cincinnati is also a responsibility bestowed on the city, and it's not to be taken lightly considering the magnitude of the rivalry and what's at stake.
"It’s a precious gift that is being awarded, that we all take an incredible amount of pride and, to a certain extent, ownership of the game that is U.S.-Mexico," said Alexi Lalas, a former United States Men's National Team player and current FOX Soccer commentator. "The city of Cincinnati is being given this gift with the hope that it’s going to treat it with the reverence and respect that it deserves and, ultimately, provide the environment and the platform from which to get three points, which are so important in terms of qualifying for the World Cup."
The burden of providing a stage on which the "USMNT" can succeed and achieve its ultimate goal of reaching the Qatar World Cup isn't just Cincinnati's to shoulder.
Several Midwestern cities including Nashville and Columbus have been awarded qualifying matches as part of the eight-nation "octagonal" World Cup qualifying process for FIFA's "Concacaf" region, which comprises soccer federations from North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Three federations qualify directly for the World Cup from the octagonal while a fourth nation goes to a playoff to reach Qatar, and Chicago-headquartered U.S. Soccer appears to be leaning heavily on the Midwest's soccer-specific infrastructure, and its patriotism, in seeking qualification for Qatar in 2022.
The U.S. men failed to qualify for the 2018 Russia World Cup and while fewer qualifying matches were played among just six nations during that qualifying process, three of the five American home games were staged in the coastal cities of San Jose, Harrison, New Jersey and Orlando.
Columbus, which is a regular host of World Cup qualifiers, and Denver were the only inland destinations during that qualifying process.
Now, Cincinnati, Columbus, Nashville and even Austin are being thrust into the qualifying spotlight for the upcoming cycle.
USMNT - 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying schedule
• Sept. 2 at El Salvador
• Sept. 5 vs. Canada - Nissan Stadium in Nashville
• Sept. 8 at Honduras
• Oct. 7 vs. Jamaica - Q2 Stadium in Austin
• Oct. 10 at Panama
• Oct. 13 vs. Costa Rica - Lower.com Field in Columbus
• Nov. 12 vs. Mexico - TQL Stadium in Cincinnati
• Nov. 16 at Jamaica
• Jan. 27 vs. El Salvador*
• Jan. 30 at Canada
• Feb. 2 vs. Honduras*
• March 24 at Mexico
• March 27 vs. Panama*
• March 30 at Costa Rica*Home venues yet to be formally announced by U.S. Soccer
The awarding of a World Cup qualifier isn't just a feel-good prize handed out to locales with strong soccer support. The host venues are deliberately selected and thoroughly vetted with the the sole focus on winning matches and points in the qualifying process to reach Qatar.
"These aren’t games about making money. If that was the case, they would be going to different places and much bigger arenas," Lalas said. "There is a strategy behind these decisions, and having not made the men’s World Cup during the last cycle, the pressure and the targeting of getting the most conducive and advantageous environments is just ratcheted up… They thought long and hard about which environments gave them the best possible chance of success, and whatever that formula was, this is what it spat out. Now, it’s up to the people of Cincinnati, the people of Columbus to bring it and make it a fortress and make it so that it is an advantage and that the opposition understands that hell is real.”
DaMarcus Beasley, a well-traveled, now-retired professional soccer player and former USMNT player, attended Wednesday's announcement of the U.S.-Mexico match.
As a native of Indiana, Beasley knows U.S. Soccer is no stranger to the Midwest. Columbus has served as the host city to numerous men's national team's successes against Mexico, as well as other opponents.
Kansas City, Kansas, has also served as a stronghold for the men's program, which recently completed all three of its group-stage matches in the ongoing Concacaf Gold Cup at Children's Mercy Park, the MLS venue there.
Beasley said staging crucial games in Midwestern locales was indicative of soccer's growth in America.
“It’s a great place to play these games. I think there’s so many fans and so much support in the Midwest for soccer," Beasley said. "I’m a Midwest boy so I’m biased. It’s great to see because it definitely wasn’t like this when I was growing up and when I was playing. So to have all these games stay around where I’m from, and the growth of soccer just in this part of the United States, is great.
"Another thing I’ll add. This is a question people ask me sometimes – why doesn’t U.S. Soccer have a national stadium? And I think, in one way, that would help fans know where the game is gonna be played when they’re being played but I just think it shows how much support we have throughout the country for the game of soccer, men and women. So to be able to play in Kansas City, Cincinnati, Ohio, down in all these other different places that the U.S. team is gonna play, I think it’s great that we can have that type of support still in different parts of the country."
It's a commonly held belief in soccer that qualifying for the FIFA World Cup from any part of the world requires that nations needs to win the qualifiers they host.
Ohio, and the Midwest at-large, will either be remembered for staging famous victories that lifted the national team back to the World Cup, or as the final resting place for World Cup unrealized dreams.
"I think what we’re seeing here in regards to the state of Ohio and with Cincinnati being given this precious gift, we’re seeing that responsibility and we’re seeing how important these cities are and can be to the competitive environment and creating an ultimate home-field advantage," Lalas said. "If and when this men’s national team qualifies for the World Cup in Qatar, we may look back and say ‘those Ohio moments were crucial in securing the points needed to finally return to a World Cup."
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