United States announce Jamaica friendly

The United States will play Jamaica on Mar. 25, three days before they play Northern Ireland in Belfast. The match against their CONCACAF rival will take place at Stadion Wiener Neustadt in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.

In the recent FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, the United States is No. 22. The Reggae Boyz are No. 47

It is the second time that the United States will play a CONCACAF side in Austria since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In mid-November, the United States met Panama in Wiener Neustadt in what was a 6-2 drumming by the Americans.

Due to quarantine issues, the squad for the United States is expected to be largely if not entirely based from European players.

Since beating Panama on Nov. 16, the United States has run roughshod over CONCACAF competition in friendles. Fielding largely domestic-based squads, the Americans have scored 13 goals and did not concede in a December win over El Salvador and then in a late January win over Trinidad & Tobago.

It is certainly a busy calendar year for the United States. In June, they will participate in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Nations League before launching into July’s Gold Cup. Come September, there will be eight World Cup qualifying matches as well as a training camp in December.

That also doesn’t include Olympic qualifying which will see some limited overlap featuring U23 players.

The last time that the United States met Jamaica was the semifinals of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The United States won that match 3-1 behind goals from Weston McKennie and a brace by Christian Pulisic.

The Americans would lose four days later in the cup’s final, a 1-0 loss to archrival Mexico where El Tri dominated much of the match.