USMNT will play crucial World Cup qualifier against Honduras in San Jose, CA
The United States have a gigantic World Cup qualifier against Honduras set for March 24, and they're counting on San Jose, California giving them a home-field advantage to help them pick up a much-needed win. U.S. Soccer announced on Sunday that the match will be played at San Jose's Avaya Stadium, trusting the three-year-old venue with one of the team's biggest matches in decades.
The match will kick off at 10:30 p.m. ET and be televised live on FS1. It will also be streamed on Fox Sports Go.
Losses to Mexico and Costa Rica to open the final round of World Cup qualifying have left the Americans dead last in the qualifying group. Those losses also played a large role in the firing of Jurgen Klinsmann as manager.
Now, Bruce Arena is the U.S. boss and he knows the team needs to get results in March. That begins on the 24th against Honduras, a team that Americans have been good against at home historically. But the Catrachos have shown that they can give the U.S. problems so the Americans will be hoping that Avaya Stadium is rocking to give them an extra edge.
Avaya Stadium has never hosted the U.S. men before. The only national team match that it has hosted is a women's friendly in 2016. In fact, the Bay Area hasn't hosted a World Cup qualifier since 1997. But for years, part of that was because they lacked a suitable venue. The 18,000-seat Avaya Stadium has rectified that.
After the U.S. plays Honduras, they will head to Panama City for a showdown with the Canaleros. Having dug themselves into a hole with two early losses, they need results and you can bet they're hoping that a win over Honduras in San Jose gives them some momentum heading to Panama.
