(Football news) Wales are going to make their first appearance at the World Cup after 64 years when they take on USA in the Al Rayyan stadium in their Group B. Their form in qualifiers for this World Cup, where despite losing their opening match with Belgium in the World Cup qualifiers, Wales remained unbeaten in their next seven matches in the group to finish above Czech Republic. Again all eyes will be on Gareth Bale as the former Real Madrid star will be leading the Welsh following his heroics in the playoffs against Austria in the semi-final where he scored 2 goals and then went on to claim an assist for Andriy Yarmolenko's own goal in the final.

Wales previously made it through to the group stage at their two recent appearances at Euro 2016 and 2020, and Bale will want to ensure that he leads his country to repeat the feat again. Joe Allen who has been out injured since late September will be ready to take part in this group opener. However, Rhys Norrington-Davies who recently became a mainstay in the defence has not been fortunate, as the Sheffield United man will not take part in the tournament for Wales, following his injury against Coventry City last month.

The US on the other hand are back in the World Cup finals after missing the 2018 edition following a defeat in Trinidad & Tobago in their final qualifier. This time around, it was still a close affair in a very difficult qualifying round where the top four nations were separated by just three points, but USA managed to claim the automatic spots just ahead of Costa Rica. Gregg Berhalter has raised a few eyebrows with his squad selection as he has left out few players who have been regulars in the squad over the past few years, but after the form of the regular players tailed off, changes within the squad was likely.

Following their qualification, USA have gone on to beat Morocco and Grenada while earning a respectable draw against Uruguay, but a defeat to Japan and a draw with Saudi Arabia in September friendlies has caused the US fans to question Greg Berhalter’s coaching style. The United States have reached the round of 16 in four of the last seven tournament appearances, but they have failed to beat an European team in their previous nine attempts, so if they want to progress this time, they will not only have to beat Wales but also defeat the mighty English. 

USA possible starting lineup:

Turner; Dest, Zimmerman, Long, A Robinson; Adams, McKennie, Aaronson; Reyna, Ferreira, Pulisic

Wales possible starting lineup:

Hennessey; C Roberts, Ampadu, Rodon, B Davies, N Williams; Allen, Ramsey; Bale, Moore, James

Also read: Why Brazil and Argentina are favourites to win the World Cup