The US Men's National Team had hoped that Bruce Arena's appointment as head coach would revive a flagging World Cup qualifying campaign that appeared to be losing its way after back-to-back defeats in November's opening games of CONCACAF's Hexagonal tournament.
Three of the six teams in the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying will make it to Russia 2018, and the fourth-placed team will get a shot via a playoff against the fifth-best team from Asia's qualifying tournament: the Hex is a more forgiving competition than it is often made out to be.
Still, after two games the USA had zero points.