US men to play South Korea, Japan in September friendlies with World Cup looming
The US men's national team will kick off the final part of their journey to the 2026 World Cup with September friendlies against South Korea and Japan, the US Soccer Federation announced on Tuesday.
The US will play South Korea on 6 September at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, before traveling to Ohio to take on Japan at Lower.com Field in Columbus on 9 September.
The friendlies come in the first of four international windows between this summer's Gold Cup and next year's main event – the 2026 World Cup co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.
Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson
Jonathan Wilson brings expert analysis on the biggest stories from European soccer
after newsletter promotion
The US last played at Sports Illustrated Stadium, then known as Red Bull Arena, in the run-up to the 2014 World Cup, when Fabian Johnson and Clint Dempsey scored in a 2-1 win over Turkey.
The meeting with South Korea will be the eighth-ever between the sides, the most notable of which came in the 2002 World Cup group stage when Clint Mathis and Ahn Jung-hwan scored in a 1-1 draw in Daegu.
South Korea are currently in a good spot in World Cup qualifying, sitting in first place of their group in Round 3 of AFC qualifiers with a three-point lead over Jordan and a four-point lead over Iraq. With the top two sides earning automatic qualification to the 2026 tournament, South Korea are likely to book their tickets to North America in June's international window with games against Iraq and Kuwait. The team, coached by legendary defender and former LA Galaxy player Hong Myung-bo, also boast star power in the form of Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min.
Japan, meanwhile, have already assured their spot in next year's showpiece. In March, the Samurai Blue became the first non-host nation to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, and are riding a 12-match unbeaten run dating back to February 2024. Japan have reached the round of 16 in the last two World Cups and are currently ranked No 15 in the world.
The US will host Japan at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio, home of MLS's Columbus Crew. It will be the third time the US men play at the venue, having hosted two World Cup qualifiers there on the road to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
12 hours ago
- BBC News
'It's not a risk playing for your country, it's a reward'
Striker Josh Magennis has won 82 caps for Northern Ireland and will be part of BBC Sport NI's coverage of Saturday's friendly with Denmark after missing the game through difference in the attitude towards summer friendlies now compared to when I started, it's night and day.I actually made my debut during one of these Nigel Worthington, we went to America and we played Turkey and Chile in 2010. I had got called in late because so many people pulled out through injury or had other plans. While I benefited from it massively, there were a lot of people talking about who wasn't available. The only senior pros were Gareth McAuley and Stephen Craigan, everyone else either from the Under-21s or early on in their career. But when Michael O'Neill came in, he laid it out clearly. He said if you're not available in the summer, you're not available in season. That's what turned around the availability. He just asked for that buy-in. Then senior players like Steven Davis toeing the line made a pathway for the up and coming boys, the likes of myself, Corry Evans, Oli Norwood, to just follow makes Michael different is his man management, how he handles other men. He doesn't mollycoddle you, he doesn't micromanage you're working, he expects you to give everything you've got, when you have a bit of downtime, you're gives you the parameters, to look after yourself, but he doesn't tell you what to if he finds out someone has been messing around, he's got that ruthlessness about him that you won't be not a fear factor as such, I think it's just respect. Boys know not to cross a when you get results, it's easy for people to follow and Michael managed to do that quite early on in his Northern Ireland career the first time round and then again coming back. 'International football can be a selling point' If you don't know where you'll be playing next season, the biggest risk factor is injury, but that can happen anywhere at any time. And when your club future is uncertain, I think there's a selling point to playing international football. If you're playing League One or Championship, people will be thinking if Michael O'Neill is picking him to play senior international football, he must have some the way I've always looked at it, going into the summer. There's no grey area for me, I love playing for my country. Last year when I was looking for a club, if I was going to get injured and it was my last games, if I was able to say I did it playing for Northern Ireland, I'd have had no problems with that. I don't think that's just me, that's all of us. Nobody thinks it's a chore, nobody thinks it's hard not a risk playing for your country, it's a reward. You can't top it. I've always loved playing for my country but you don't realise how much you'll miss it until you aren't doing it when I wasn't in the squad for March as Michael knows what I can do and wanted a look at other players, and then now because of my hip week, you miss the camaraderie, meeting up on the first night and having the chats, talking to boys about their it just keeps that fire burning to get back into pre-season, to keep doing what you do, and to make sure you get called back in for the World Cup qualifiers coming up in September. Josh Magennis was speaking to BBC Sport NI's Jonathan Denmark v Northern Ireland live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Two NI; listen on BBC Sounds and follow live text commentary & in-play clips on the BBC Sport website. Kick-off in Copenhagen on Saturday is at 18:00 BST.
Reuters
14 hours ago
- Reuters
Hong keeps focus on World Cup after successful end to fraught campaign
June 7 (Reuters) - South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo sought to focus on his team's preparations for next year's World Cup rather than the fraught campaign that eventually ended with the country celebrating qualification for an 11th consecutive finals. A 2-0 victory over Iraq in Basra on Thursday confirmed South Korea's progress as one of two automatic qualifiers from Group B of Asia's preliminaries, and came 11 months on from Hong's controversial reappointment as head coach. "It's an opportunity for us to test young guys who may be able to play at the World Cup next year," Hong said of Tuesday's remaining qualifier against Kuwait in Seoul. "We won't have too many opportunities like this. It's one thing for those guys to watch from the bench, and quite another for them to play." Ex-national team captain Hong returned for a second spell in charge in July last year after a series of caretakers had been appointed following Juergen Klinsmann's underwhelming tenure, the German leaving in the aftermath of South Korea's Asian Cup elimination. The 56-year-old's appointment was greeted by protests among hardcore fans, many mindful of the team's performance under Hong at the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, when a highly-fancied squad crashed out in the group phase. Relations with supporters were further damaged by early struggles in qualifying, with players booed off the field in Seoul following an opening 0-0 draw with Palestine in September. That showing was one of several that highlighted the team's issues on native soil. While Hong's side are unbeaten across the nine matches played so far in the third phase of qualifying, the Koreans have won just one of four matches at home. The poor quality of the pitches used was blamed by players for their underwhelming performances and was another reason tensions increased between the country's football hierarchy and the support base. Despite those issues, qualification means the Koreans will extend a run of unbroken World Cup appearances that stretches back to 1986, with Hong now charged with building his squad for the challenge that lies ahead in North America. That will mean giving opportunities to less experienced performers as he looks for long-term options to stalwarts such as Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers. "From this moment on, everything we do will be geared toward preparing for the World Cup," said Hong.
Reuters
15 hours ago
- Reuters
Watkins out of England's games against Andorra, Senegal with injury
June 7 (Reuters) - England striker Ollie Watkins will miss the side's matches against Andorra and Senegal after withdrawing due to a minor injury, the England team said. The 29-year-old, who scored 17 goals and provided 14 assists in 54 appearances in all competitions for Aston Villa in the recently concluded season, has been capped 18 times for England, netting five times. With Watkins' withdrawal, captain Harry Kane and Ivan Toney remain England manager Thomas Tuchel's striker options for their two upcoming games. England play Andorra in a 2026 World Cup qualifier in Spain on Saturday before hosting Senegal for a friendly match on Tuesday.
