U.S. to play Canada at Nashville, 1st home World Cup qualifier

CHICAGO (AP) — The United States’ first home World Cup qualifier, against Canada on Sept. 5, will be at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.

The venue for the match, announced Sunday, will follow the Americans’ opener at El Salvador on Sept. 2 and precede a Sept. 8 match at Honduras.

U.S. players will train in Nashville starting Aug. 30, many flying in from European weekend matches.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, three World Cup qualifiers are being squeezed into FIFA international fixture windows designed for two matches. Because of that, U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter says he expects to use more players that he otherwise would have.

The 20th-ranked U.S. ended a streak of seven straight World Cup berths when it failed to qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia, losing home matches to Mexico in Columbus, Ohio, and to Costa Rica at Harrison, New Jersey.

No. 70 Canada is seeking its first World Cup berth since 1986.

The Americans have four wins, two losses and one draw in Nashville, beating Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 in a qualifier on April 1, 2009, behind a three-goal game by Jozy Altidore.

The U.S. tied Panama 1-1 in Nashville before 47,622 during the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, beat Mexico 1-0 in a 2018 exhibition before 40,194 and defeated Jamaica 3-1 before 28,473 in the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Associated Press