Wednesday’s soccer news starts with Costa Rica beating New Zealand 1-0 in Doha to advance to the 2022 World Cup. Joel Campbell scored the game’s only goal in the 3rd minute with Keylor Nevas making four saves to keep the clean sheet. Costa Rica becomes the fourth Concacaf team to advance and will play Spain, Japan, and Germany in group E. Concacaf last won a playoff in 2015 when Mexico knocked out New Zealand.
Mexico was in action in Concacaf Nations League A group A, drawing 1-1 at Jamaica. Trailing from a 4th minute Leon Bailey goal, Mexico’s Luis Romo equalized four minutes into stoppage time. Mexico trails 1st-place Jamaica by one point with a game in hand.
Both of the USMNT’s European World Cup group B opponents were in action in the UEFA Nations League. England lost 4-0 to Hungary at Molineux Stadium. Roland Sallai put Hungary up in the 16th and doubled the lead in the 70th. Hungary’s Zsolt Nagy scored in the 80th with England’s Josh Stones seeing red in the 82nd minute. Hungary added a fourth goal through Daniel Gazdag in the 89th minute. England is last in League A group 3 with two points from four games. They play 3rd-place Italy and 2nd-place Germany during the September window with Hungary leading the group by a point.
“It’s a disappointing night,” Kane said. “In the first-half we created enough chances to score but it has been the story of our Nations League, we have not quite had the cutting edge. The second-half wasn’t acceptable after going 2-0 down. It’s not the time to panic, we have to get the heads up and come back stronger in September.”
Wales saw the Netherlands score another late winner, this time in Rotterdam. Noa Lang put the Dutch up in the 17th and Cody Gakpo made it 2-0 in the 23rd minute. Wales’ Brennan Johnson pulled a goal back in the 26th with Gareth Bale equalizing from the penalty spot two minutes into stoppage time. Memphis Depay scored for the Netherlands a minute later. Wales is in last place in League A group 4 with one point from four games. They play 2nd-place Belgium and 3rd-place Poland in September. The Netherlands leads the group by three points.
“The result is what counts, so I’m really disappointed, especially by how we lost,” Johnson said. “You hear them all say that you’re most vulnerable when you’ve just scored, and that’s what happened today, and last week as well, so we have to go back and look at that.”
MLS had one game on the schedule with Seattle shutting out Vancouver 4-0 at Lumen Field. Nicolas Lodeiro put Seattle up from the penalty spot in the 5th minute with Raul Ruidiaz scoring in the 28th and 54th minutes. Alex Roldan added a goal in the 89th. Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei didn’t need to make a save to keep the clean sheet.
Also from MLS, the league announced a 10-season streaming deal with Apple TV. MLS will produce all of the league’s games for the streaming service with no blackouts beginning next season. In a press statement, MLS commissioner Don Garber called Apple “the perfect partner to further accelerate the growth of MLS and deepen the connection between our clubs and their fans.”
The Washington Post’s Steven Goff’s match report from the draw in El Salvador. SI’s Brian Straus with what the USMNT learned in June. The Athletic’s Sam Stejskal and Paul Tenorio look at the MLS and Apple TV deal. BBC Sport’s Alex Bysouth on England losing big to Hungary in the UEFA Nations League.
THURSDAY’S SOCCER TV
No games today.
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