WALES have their first World Cup game in 64 years when they take on USA tonight!
England await later on in the group stage, but first the Dragons have to battle a tricky test in Christian Pulisic and the USA team – a country over 100 times the population of Wales.
Rob Page's men will be desperate to repeat their Euro 2016 performance when Chris Coleman's side reached the semi-finals.
And Welsh fans will be buzzing at the thought of Hen Wlad fy Nhadau being sang at a World Cup for the first time since 1958.
- Kick-off: 7pm UK time
- TV channel: ITV 1/ S4C
- Live stream: ITV Hub
- USA XI: Turner, Dest, Zimmerman, Adams, Robinson, Musah, McKennie, Pulisic, Ream, Weah, Sargent.
- Wales XI: Hennessey; Mepham, Rodon, B Davies; Roberts, Ampadu, Ramsey, Wilson, N Williams; James, Bale
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- Tom Chambers
Wales starting XI
Wales have announced their team slightly earlier than expected – Joe Allen is only fit enough to make the bench.
Wales XI: Hennessey, Williams, Davies, Mepham, Rodon, Wilson, Ramsey, Bale, Roberts, Ampadu, James
- Tom Chambers
Al Rayyan Stadium
The venue for tonight’s game is one of eight stadiums that have been built or converted for the 2022 World Cup.
The stadium has a capacity of 40,000 and is located around 20km from the centre of Doha.
The organisers claim that “The intricate façade reflects the undulations of sand dunes while intricate geometric patterns reflect the beauty of the desert.”
I’ll take their word for it.
- Tom Chambers
One Love armband
Gareth Bale will not be wearing the One Love armband for Wales’ World Cup opener after FIFA warned those doing so would be booked.
Wales, England and six other European nations have pulled out of using the rainbow symbol to show support for the LGBTQ+ community worldwide, writes Dan King.
A Joint statement from the teams read: “FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if out captains wear the armbands on the field of play.
“We were prepared to pay fines that would normally apply to breaches of kit regulations and had a strong commitment to wearing he armband.
“However we cannot put out players in a position where they might be booked or even forced to leave the field of play.”
- Tom Chambers
Wales team news
Joe Allen has been out injured since September, but he is in line to start tonight.
Gareth Bale has also been struggling for fitness in the lead up to the tournament.
The Welshman has only started two games for LAFC since joining the club in the summer but he has publicly stated that he is ready and prepared to play the full 90 minutes in all three of Wales’ group games, if necessary.
We're expecting the official team news in just over 20 minutes' time.
- Tom Chambers
USA team news
Manchester City’s Zack Steffen was the number one for the USMNT until a recent dip in form cost him his place in Gregg Berhalter’s 26-man squad.
Arsenal’s Matt Turner could start in Steffen’s place this evening.
Weston McKennie has not made an appearance for Juventus since October but is expected to start for the US today.
- Tom Chambers
Hello from Al-Rayyan!
Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of the World Cup group B fixture between the USA and Wales.
Today’s game at the Al-Rayyan Stadium in Qatar marks Wales’ first appearance at a World Cup since 1958 where John Charles and co. reached the quarter finals.
The USA are back at the World Cup after failing to qualify for the 2018 edition of the tournament.
The USMNT, as they like to be known, are hoping that Christian Pulisic can be the ace in the pack for Gregg Berhalter’s team.
Wales have their own star in the form of Gareth Bale and the former Real Madrid man will captain his country in tonight’s game.
The USA have struggled for form in the lead up to this tournament after they failed to win any of their last 3 games against the likes of El Salvador, Japan and Saudi Arabia.
Wales have suffered a similar pre-tournament dip in form, failing to win a single match since the 1-0 win over Ukraine back in June that secured their place in Qatar.
The winner of this one could finish the first round of fixtures top of the group but only if they better England’s 6-2 result against Iran earlier.
This should be an exciting game between two evenly matched teams.
Looking forward to this one!
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