USA 1-1 Canada: World Cup 2022 qualifier – as it happened

And that’s all for a game that will either be a small footnote in a successful U.S. qualifying campaign or a result that haunts these young Americans and their rattled fans for some time to come.

Only 12 more of these.

Brendan Aaronson speaks and gives less of an effort to withhold his frustration, saying it’s hard to play against a team that wants to stay back.

Alexi Lalas is in full rant mode about qualifying mishaps going back to 2017. “The grass is too high? Figure it out. It’s too hot? Figure it out.”

It’s probably too early to talk about Gregg Berhalter’s job security.

John Brooks’ job security is probably gone.

Weston McKennie has earned the wrath of fans for a while.

The bright side for U.S. fans: McKennie will be back at some point, as will Gio Reyna and Tim Weah.

And give Canada credit. They defended well. Davies was always dangerous until he had to leave, and then Buchanan posed some problems.

Christian Pulisic gamely steps up for the postgame interview. They have a lot of games left. They were on the front foot for much of the game. But you can hear the frustration as he says all the proper things.

The USA won the CONCACAF Nations League.

The USA won the Gold Cup.

The USA just dropped two points at home to a team they should’ve beaten.

90 min +2: Pulisic with a good corner kick, and Miles Robinson’s diving header goes over the bar.

90 min: Bodies hit the floor. Dogs and cats are fighting. And it’s a harmless U.S. cross in the end.

John Herdman was the Canadian women’s coach when the USA got a fortunate call and won their Olympic semifinal in 2012. He can taste the result here.

Only three minutes of stoppage time.

89 min: Canada’s Sam Adekugbe holds things up by going down with an apparent cramp. The crowd is not happy.

86 min: And Pulisic puts it over the bar. That would’ve been difficult.

Gregg Berhalter looks like a man who fears for his job. Jurgen Klinsmann was fired around this same time in the last qualifying cycle. The USA has one more game in this window, and it’s at Honduras, where nothing is guaranteed.

85 min: Sargent gets the better of Hutchinson, and Johnston trips him. Free kick from 30 yards. Pulisic lines up.

83 min: At last, here come the subs. It’s like a hockey line change.

OUT: Aaronson, Pefok, Lletget

IN: Roldan, Sargent, Konrad

Pulisic stays.

81 min: Have we mentioned that the USA hasn’t made a sub aside from putting in Yedlin for the injured Dest? If the USA can’t find a winner, the heat will turn up on coach Gregg Berhalter for leaving a tired atack on the field.

79 min: Oh my, oh my. The USA might be lucky there’s no VAR her. Buchanan beats two defenders and then drops as he runs with Adams.

But the replay shows the ball was outside the box, and the contact was dubious.

78 min: My apologies to Jonathan David, who simply zips past John Brooks with the ball and barrels in from the wing before shooting wide from a difficult angle. Clearly Canada still has some attack left, especially if Brooks is going to play like this.

76 min: And that’s it for Davies. He can’t continue. Adams sportingly gives him a half-embrace on his way out.

The uber-experienced Jonathan Osorio and the ancient Atiba Hutchinson are on.

75 min: Brooks with a long ball ahead to Pefok, who tries to nod the ball over to the onrushing Aaronson but plays it too far in front.

Davies is still on for now.

73 min: This is strange. Adams atones for his error a bit by stopping Davies cold with Lletget’s help. Davies shepherds the ball out of play as it glances off the corner flag for a throw.

And now Davies is down, grimacing.

And he’s motioning for a sub.

This would be horrible for Canada. There’s really no attack without him.

69 min: Yedlin has a nifty backheel to break up an attack, and the USA is off to the races. Tyler Adams fouled Mark-Anthony Kaye off the ball and gets a yellow card.

We’ve mentioned this is a young team, right?

66 min: Canada is looking more dangerous. Kaye sends a long shot just over the bar.

I neglected to mention the view on the broadcast of a Canadian taunting U.S. fans while wearing a Montreal Expos hat. The Expos were a baseball team that was swiped away and taken to Washington.

YELLOW to Kaye for a clumsy challenge at midfield.

Hey, remember Buchanan and David and how all the Canadians on Twitter were upset that they didn’t start? They’re on now.

About that goal, in which the two older guys on the backline were just roasted:

Alphonso Davies races down the left and plays a simple cross to Cyle Larin, who is all alone for the tap-in from five yards.

The crowd falls silent.

62 min: Canada playing with fire at the back, but they’re also creating some slightly uncomfortable mome…….

60 min: The commentators are reasonably asking if Pulisic might come out soon, given his rust from his Covid layoff, but he’s looking good here. Earns a corner that is nearly turned in by Pefok.

Thank the referee for playing advantage as Pulisic was fouled.

The ball went Pefok-A. Robinson-Aaronson, with the latter stretching out a leg to poke it in from five yards out.

55 min: A 50-50 challenge ends up as a foul on Lletget, the most curious refereeing decision so far.

53 min: With Doneil Henry momentarily out injured, the USA has possession but little else.

Halftime clearly ruined this team’s momentum.

50 min: We have players down with no calls, and honestly, Pulisic went down far too easily.

Now another Canadian cross, this one from Reading player Junior Hoilett zips through the penalty area. Nervous start for the USA here.

Second-half kickoff: All 22 players who finished the first half are back for the second.

And also elsewhere …

El Salvador-Honduras has concluded 0-0.

So your standings are:

Mexico 6
Panama 4
El Salvador 2
Honduras 2
USA 1
Canada 1
Costa Rica 1
Jamaica 0

Three advance automatically. Another goes to a playoff.

We have news from elsewhere:

They’re scoreless in the 21st minute of stoppage time. (Apparently, the power outage didn’t affect the referee’s watch.)

The U.S. attack has looked good for the last 25-30 minutes. The Canadian counter has been effectively neutralized.

And yet they have no goals to show for it.

45 min: Oh they’re threatening now. Yedlin crosses too far, but it’s played in the middle just past Pefok’s head. Lletget unleashes a shot that nearly takes Pefok’s head off but instead goes just wide of the post.

A goal in the two minutes of stoppage time we’re getting here would be more than deserved at this point.

44 min: The USA playing a man down, and Davies is on the ball down the flank, but the USA has Tyler Adams, so that’s that.

Now Yedlin comes out to make it 11 as IFAB intended.

Here’s that wild chance (now fixed):

40 min: OFF THE POST! Brooks plays a 30-yard ball to Lletget, who pivots and plays to Aaronson, who rifles the ball to where Pulisic and Pefok are literally falling over each other to get to it. Borjan would’ve had no chance.

The bad news for the USA: Dest is down. DeAndre Yedlin has already been warming up. Not going in yet.

39 min: Canada with some promising possession deep in the U.S. half. Then some action either way ending with plays that our referee could’ve whistled but does not.