27.07.2015 21:12 h

US to host first WC2018 qualifier at St. Louis

The United States will begin its quest for an eighth consecutive World Cup berth on home soil at St. Louis on November 13, US coach Jurgen Klinsmann announced Monday.

The Americans will meet either Aruba or St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the match at Busch Stadium, the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals.

The match will be part of the penultimate round of North American regional qualifying for the 2018 Russia World Cup, which will see three groups of four teams reduced to six finalists who will then compete in the "Hexagonal" round robin to determine berths in Russia.

A two-leg playoff between St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Aruba is set for September 4 and 8 with the winner joining the United States, Trinidad and Tobago and the Barbuda-Guatemala winner in Group C.

"We are absolutely thrilled to be playing our first World Cup qualifier towards Russia 2018 in St. Louis," Klinsmann said. "Some of the best players we have ever produced have ties there and now we look forward to bringing the national team back home to St. Louis where we know the support will be incredible."