If the U.S. men’s national team entered Friday’s 2022 World Cup draw first and foremost wanting to avoid a nightmare schedule in Qatar, Gregg Berhalter’s squad can rest easy: It did not end up in the so-called Group of Death.
That label goes not to Group B, which includes the United States, England, Iran and a to-be-determined European foe, but probably Group E, which pits European powers Spain and Germany against Japan and either Costa Rica or New Zealand. Group C also won’t be a cakewalk, as Copa America champion Argentina finds itself matched up with Mexico, Poland and Saudi Arabia.