A viewing party will be held in Old Pasadena and for other SoCal locations Sunday afternoon for broadcasts of the U.S.-Canada 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier.
The 5 p.m. game is the second of the U.S.’ 14-game, seven-month qualifying schedule as it attempts to return to the World Cup after missing the 2018 edition. The U.S. opened qualifying Thursday with a 0-0 tie against El Salvador in San Salvador.
Canada opened play in the final round of Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football World Cup qualifying with a 1-1 tie with Honduras Thursday in Toronto.
The top three finishers among the eight CONCACAF teams will qualify for the World Cup.
Fans can watch and cheer the U.S. at Lucky Baldwin’s Pub, 17 S. Raymond Ave., Old Pasadena.
The parties are organized by the Long Beach, Los Angeles, South Bay, San Gabriel Valley and Orange County chapters of American Outlaws, a nationwide support group for the U.S. men’s and women’s national soccer teams.
The tie with El Salvador ended a nine-game winning streak for the U.S., which is 12-1-1 in 2021. Its victory in the CONCACAF Gold Cup lifted it 10 spots to 10th in the rankings issued by FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, its highest ranking since 2006.
Canada is ranked 59th. It is 9-2-1 in 2021, losing to ninth-ranked Mexico, 2-1, in a Gold Cup semifinal July 29, and 1-0 to the U.S. in a Gold Cup group play game July 18.
The 26-man U.S. roster consists of nine players from Major League Soccer, including Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Sebastian Lletget, six in England, three in Germany, two in France and one each in Austria, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey.
Canada’s 23-man roster consists of 11 players from Major League Soccer, three in Turkey, two each in Germany and Portugal, and one each in England, France, South Korea, Scotland and Serbia.
U.S. defender Walker Zimmerman is a teammate of Canadian defender Alistair Johnson with MLS’ Nashville SC.
The U.S. is 16-9-11 against Canada, including 12-1-6 since 1990.
The 5 p.m. game from Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee will be broadcast in English by cable’s FS1 and in Spanish by UniMas and the TUDN cable network.
Besides the Lucky Baldwin’s viewing party, others are planned for:
- 1739 Public House, 1739 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz; and
- Legends Sports Bar, 5236 E. Second St., Long Beach;
- Lopez & Lefty’s, 1759 S. Claudina Way, Anaheim;
- Underground Pub & Grill, 1332 Hermosa Ave., Hermosa Beach.
