U.S.A. Soccer Vs. Guatemala Live Stream: Men’s National Team Desperate To Avoid World Cup Qualifying Disaster

The U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team faces Guatemala Tuesday in a World Cup qualifying match that will stream live as the USMNT must fight desperately to avoid the worst disaster in American soccer in more than two decades — failure to qualify for a World Cup. After losing 2-0 in Guatemala on Friday, the U.S. Men must win, or they will need last-place St. Vincent and the Grenadines to somehow hold leaders Trinidad and Tobago or Guatemala.

In the unlikely event that lowly St. Vincent can come to the U.S.A.’s rescue, the USMNT must still beat Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent to be assured of even advancing to the final round of qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup, to take place in Russia.

The U.S. men have qualified for every World Cup since the 1994 tournament — for which they qualified automatically, with ’94 being the first and so far only year that the United States has hosted the quadrennial tournament.

Guatemala sent a signal to the U.S. team early in the Guatemala City matchup, as defender Rafael Morales caught the U.S. defense in a state of confusion, powering over New York City FC midfielder Mix Diskerud to put the ball past a hapless Tim Howard with just seven minutes elapsed in the game. And it was all downhill for the USMNT from there, as Guatemala cruised to their first win over the U.S. since 1988.

This Guatemala score puts #USMNT down on the road 0-1 https://t.co/NnPCOe4knB#RoadToRussia

— World Soccer Shop (@worldsoccershop) March 26, 2016

The U.S. Men’s team had played 21 games against Guatemala without worse than a draw.

To watch highlights — or for U.S. fans, lowlights — of the Friday Guatemala vs. U.S. Men’s Soccer Team match, see the video below.

To find out how to watch a live stream of the Tuesday rematch, U.S. Men’s Soccer Team vs. Guatemala, see the streaming links in the final paragraph of this article. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern Time at Mapfre Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, March 29 — 4 p.m., Pacific Time.

“It wasn’t good. It’s almost something that you can’t account for,” said Howard, who recently lost his starting job with English Premier League club Everton. “We train all week, we work on things, everyone’s fired up and raring to go, but we get caught. At this level, it’s clearly not good enough, but we move on.”

Veteran midfielder and Captain Michael Bradley, who also captains Toronto FC in the MLS, also took a fatalistic approach to the crushing defeat.

“No one expected it to go perfectly from Game One until the end,” Bradley said. “Obviously, it’s on us to make sure the response in every way is strong. I think – no, I know – you’ll see a group step on the field and do that.”

The loss comes after a shocking defeat to unheralded Jamaica in the semifinals of last summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup — followed by a loss on penalty kicks to Panama in the third-place game. Then in the fall, U.S.A. lost to Mexico in the CONCACAF Cup, failing to qualify for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup as a consequence.

If Team U.S.A. fails to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, the biggest loser might be the Fox Sports Network, which paid a reported $425 million for rights to that and the 2022 Cup tournaments, only to be left with no U.S. team for its viewers to root for in the first of the two, at least.

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To watch the U.S. Men’s Soccer vs. Guatemala live stream, use the stream provided by WatchESPN at this link, or download the WatchESPN app to watch the game on mobile devices. Fans who do not have credentials to log in to WatchESPN can watch the match via the Sling TV internet TV package at this link. The package, which contains a lineup of more than 20 U.S. cable channels, including ESPN2 — the network carrying the 2018 World Cup CONCACAF Group Three qualifying match — costs $20 per month. But Sling TV offers a seven-day free trial, so subscribers can choose whether or not to keep the service after watching the crucial U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team vs. Guatemala match stream live online.

[Featured Photo By Moises Castillo/Associated Press]