USMNT vs. Jamaica: Top Storylines and Predictions for 2024 Nations League
The United States men's national team will try to defend its two Concacaf Nations League titles in Arlington, Texas this week.
The USMNT faces Jamaica in the semifinal on Thursday inside AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Gregg Berhalter has the usual complement of top players at his disposal for one of the handful of major competitions the USMNT is involved in in 2024.
The Americans will take on a weakened Jamaica squad that will be without Leon Bailey, Michail Antonio and a few others.
Thursday's winner moves on to Sunday's final against the winner of the Mexico-Panama semifinal.
USMNT Going for 3rd Nations League Crown
The USMNT has been the only champion of Concacaf's newest men's competition.
The Americans beat Mexico in 2020 and defeated Canada in 2023 to capture both Nations League events that have been contested.
Berhalter's side should be favored to get back to the final on home soil against a weaker Jamaica squad.
The full first team, led by Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie, was called up for the Nations League semifinals.
Most of the starting XI picks itself when the full first-team group is together, but the one major talking point is forward.
Ricardo Pepi. Folarin Bolagun and Haji Wright are the true forwards on the current roster. Pulisic, McKennie and Timothy Weah are the only players in the USMNT squad with double-digit international goal tallies.
The USMNT needs a forward to step up to convert chances against Jamaica and Panama or Mexico to win a third straight Nations League title.
Wright may be the best option based on form. He has 13 goals for Coventry City in the English Championship. That is his fourth year in a row with a double-digit goal tally.
Jamaica Missing a Few Key Players
Leon Bailey, Michail Antonio, Demarai Gray and Ethan Pinnock all withdrew from the Jamaica squad for the Nations League semifinals.
Bailey used his announcement about not playing in this international window to call for change within the Jamaican federation. (h/t ESPN's Herculez Gomez).
Bailey, Antonio and Gray are all vital parts of the Reggae Boyz attack. Losing three Premier League quality attackers could significantly hurt what Jamaica is capable of in the final third.
The absences leave Shamar Nicholson, who plays for Clermont in France, as the top scoring option. He has 16 goals in his international career.
Jamaica's best way to a result may be through its defense and the play of three-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Andre Blake.
The Reggae Boyz are not equipped with their current roster to get into a high-scoring affair with the USMNT, but it can win a 1-0 battle, or go to extra time, with its defensive setup.
Prediction
United States 2, Jamaica 0
Only one of the four Nations League semifinals that have been contested featured more than two goals.
In fact, only the championship and third-place game in 2021 had more than three goals among the games in the Nations League semifinals and finals. Playing at altitude in Denver for the second time in four days likely helped with those inflated scores.
The USMNT produced a clean sheet in each of the four victories it had since the Concacaf Gold Cup in the summer.
The defense has become one of the team's strengths, and its wide-ranging attack, led by Pulisic, can put Jamaica under threat from the start.
Blake should keep one or two goals out on his own, but the Americans hold the clear edge in attacking firepower and that should show over the course of 90 minutes.