Tomorrow, the US plays Mexico in a game that’s part of the CONCACAF Hexagonal rounds.  Of course, the scores get converted to points, and the points matter for the World Cup.  UPH freely admits we’re fairly new to soccer, so the first game we ask is the new-fan question.

We’re playing Mexico.  Does this game matter?

The answer?  Well, kindasortamaybe.  Historically, team that get a bunch of points from this level of competition are wll-positioned for World Cup play.  The USA currently has 10 points, and with several games left, we’re very likely to gain a few more somewhere in there. Over the course of the past few years, teams with at least fifteen points from this level of competition have qualified for the World Cup.  So will we be ok? Probably.

Of course, Mexico is a traditional soccer powerhouse and beating them,  especially on their turf, would be psychologically huge for a team that’s proven that intangibles and psychology are hugely important.  If we learned nothing else from the FIFA craziness, and ensuing ESPY award,  we sure learned that.

Another strand of the story?

The game matters for Mexico.  The CONCACAF has three automatic bds to the World Cup.  Due to vagaries of schedule and other things you can read about here if you like, if the US manages even a tie–which’ll give us one point in the standings–against Trinidad and Tobago when we play them, Mexico’s awfully unlikely to manage an automatic berth.  So really? Pressure’s on them. Bring it on.