MIAMI, Florida – While the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be the first Senior Men’s World Cup for many of the Concacaf players in Qatar, there is still a very large number of players who either played in previous Senior Men’s World Cups or in various Youth World Cups at the Under-17 and Under-20 levels.

United States

Of the 26 U.S. players on Head Coach Gregg Berhalter’s roster, only DeAndre Yedlin has previously appeared in a Senior Men’s World Cup when he was used as a super-sub for the U.S. at Brazil 2014. Otherwise, the other 25 would be making their World Cup debuts.

However, 12 of those players have worn the U.S. shirt in a Youth World Cup at either the U17 or U20 level: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Sergino Dest, Shaq Moore, Joe Scally, Kellyn Acosta, Tyler Adams, Luca de la Torre, Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Josh Sargent, Timothy Weah and Haji Wright.


DeAndre Yedlin has previously appeared in a Senior Men’s World Cup when he was used as a super-sub for the U.S. at Brazil 2014.

Mexico

Of the four Concacaf nations in Qatar, Mexico have one of the most World Cup-seasoned squads with eight players boasting experience in a Senior Men’s World Cup: Jesus Gallardo, Hector Moreno, Andres Guardado, Hector Herrera, Edson Alvarez, Hirving Lozano, Raul Jimenez and Guillermo Ochoa.

Of note are the inclusions of GK Guillermo Ochoa and MF Andres Guardado. Ochoa has been named to his fifth World Cup squad and is expected to take part in his third tournament after not seeing any action at Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010. Meanwhile, Guardado saw minutes at Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018 and will no doubt be a key cog in the Mexico midfield in Qatar.

Andres Guardado at left and Guillermo Ochoa of Mexico. 

Some of the players who could make their Senior Men’s World Cup debut for Mexico do have a Youth World Cup under their belts. Rodolfo Cota, Kevin Alvarez, Nestor Araujo, Erick Gutierrez, Orbelin Pineda and Uriel Antuna are among the players hoping to achieve the Youth World Cup/Senior World Cup double.

Kevin Alvarez of Mexico

Canada

Similar to the U.S., the Canada squad is full of players competing in their first Senior Men’s World Cup. Having not qualified for the tournament since Mexico 1986, it is no surprise to see that all 26 players on the Canada team lack experience in football’s biggest tournament.

But there is a quartet of players who know what it is like to wear the Canada shirt in a Youth World Cup. Steven Vitoria, Atiba Hutchinson, Samuel Piette and Ike Ugbo all parlayed success in Concacaf Youth National Team tournament into opportunities of playing in Youth World Cups.

Atiba Hutchinson Of Canada. 

Costa Rica

The Ticos are another team that can dip into a pool and find plenty of players who know what it takes to play in a Senior Men’s World Cup. Overall, 10 players have played previously for Costa Rica in a World Cup, including six who were part of the team’s historical run to the quarterfinals at Brazil 2014: Keylor Navas, Oscar Duarte, Bryan Ruiz, Joel Campbell, Yeltsin Tejeda and Celso Borges.

Celso Borges #5 Francisco Calvo and Kendall Waston #19 in the back from Costa Rica.

The other 16 players on the Costa Rica roster stand to make their Senior Men’s World Cup debut, however, several of those players have participated in previous Youth World Cups: Esteban Alvarado, Daniel Chacon and Gerson Torres.

Whether it is players who have previous experience in a Senior Men’s World Cup or those who have only appeared in a Youth World Cup, there is no doubt that Concacaf World Cup player base across its four representatives at Qatar 2022 is about to become much bigger.