The U.S. will welcome an international friendly against Uzbekistan to its home soil. The match is the first for the U.S. since being eliminated from the Gold Cup in July. The U.S. will play four friendlies before entering the Nations League later this year, while Uzbekistan will begin World Cup qualifying in mid-November.
The U.S. had a busy schedule in the first half of 2023, as they advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup late last year, but were eliminated by the Netherlands in the round of 16. They then played three friendlies to get to the Gold Cup and advanced as the top team in the group stage. They shook hands with Jamaica in the opener and then romped to a six-goal haul against St. Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago in consecutive matches, with Jesus Ferreira scoring a solo hat-trick in both victories.
That win set them up for a quarterfinal with Canada. When it looked like the 90-minute game was going to end goalless, they eventually took the lead through Brandon Vazquez's last-minute goal, but were equalized by Steven Vitoria in injury time. In overtime they fell behind after a Jacob Shaffelburg goal, but equalized again through a Scott Kennedy own goal and won on penalties. However, in the semifinals they lost again in penalty kicks against, the game was tied 1-1 in 120 minutes with Ferreira equalizing.
Following that loss, the U.S. will now look to get back to winning ways quickly in Missouri, where they have four friendlies to play before reaching the quarterfinal stage of the CONCACAF Nations League in November.
Meanwhile, the Uzbekistan team undertook the expedition with the aim of preparing for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Their last international appearance was at the CAFA Nations Cup in June this year.
Uzbekistan had a positive end to 2022, including a successful AFC qualifying campaign, and their first outing in 2023 was a pair of friendlies against South American opponents at the end of March, where they beat Bolivia 1-0 and drew 1-1 with Venezuela before advancing to the CAFA Nations Cup.
The "White Wolves" eased through the group stage of the tournament with a perfect record, beating Oman, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, scoring 10 goals and conceding only one, but were defeated 1-0 by Iran in the final, with Sardar Azmoun scoring the only goal of the match.
Uzbekistan now have four friendlies scheduled before they enter the Asian World Cup qualifiers later this year. Under the guidance of Srecko Katanec, with only one narrow loss in their last eight matches, they will be looking to put the team on a positive note with an impressive win in the United States.
Although the Uzbeks have played well throughout the match and should not be taken lightly, the USA expects a relatively comfortable win on their home turf, with the author predicting a result of USA 3-1 Uzbeks.
