The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar starts in just a matter of days. The host nation Qatar will be playing against Ecuador on November 20th. As we near the start, the United States Men’s National Team have announced their squads for this year’s tournament.
Our 2️⃣6️⃣.
Full Roster Details » https://t.co/bQXU2MBjVh#USMNT x @budweiserusa pic.twitter.com/8N5kVwjrIp
— U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team (@USMNT) November 9, 2022
Gregg Berhalter, the USMNT manager has made some questionable selections for this year’s World Cup. However, fans have been left baffled about one particular decision of his. That was when he included Haji Wright in the team, over Ricardo Pepi, who has been putting in stellar performances in recent times.
Should Ricardo Pepi have been called up to the World Cup instead of Haji Wright?
Many have called out Gregg and the USMNT board for taking Haji Wright to the World Cup instead of Ricardo Pepi. It seems like the majority of the fans are against this decision. A fan said, “Ricardo Pepi has been in ridiculously hot form, but for Gregg to select Haji Wright, who only had 1 start for him, while Pepi had the most goals in WCQ apart from Pulisic, is an abysmal decision in my opinion.”
Ricardo Pepi has been in ridiculously hot form, but for Gregg to select Haji Wright, who only had 1 start for him, while Pepi had the most goals in WCQ apart from Pulisic, is an abysmal decision in my opinion.
— Nabhuto (@Nabhuto) November 9, 2022
Haji Wright currently plays for Antalyaspor in the Super Lig in Turkey. In the 2022/23 season so far, Wright has scored 9 goals and made 1 assist in 12 games. The numbers are quite decent for a 24-year-old striker. What is the real reason behind the backlash that Gregg Berhalter has been receiving for his selection?
Looks like the Haji Wright reports were correct. Shocked Ricardo Pepi isn’t going tho.
— USMNT 🇺🇸 (@USMNTTAKES) November 9, 2022
From out of nowhere?? Haji Wright instead if Ricardo Pepi??
— Upper90 (@Upper90_US) November 9, 2022
Im not one for politics but who tf thought that Jordan Morris and Haji Wright should be on the squad instead of Ricardo Pepi?
— Kiran Mody (@kiranmody028) November 9, 2022
Berhalter admitting the race was between Jordan Pefok/ Haji Wright & not Ricardo Pepi is interesting given his recent form & qualifiers involvement
But the USMNT does have a tendency of relying on players for Concacaf games before leaving them out of WC rosters
— Lizzy Becherano (@lizzy_becherano) November 9, 2022
Including Haji Wright but not Ricardo Pepi OR Jordan Pefok is inexplicable. Greg Berhalter is an unserious man who does not want to win in Qatar.
— Andrew Nelson aka Herr Hut (@NinesNorth) November 9, 2022
The main reason for the recent commotion would be the performances Ricardo Pepi has been putting in. In the 2022/23 season, Pepi scored 6 goals and made 2 assists in 14 games. However, his involvement in the attack for his team is far more in-depth than what we see from his goals and assists. A fan has even backed it up with the statistics by mentioning Pepi has 5 goals in his last 8 games, 1 more than Haji Wright.
#USMNT forward check:
Ricardo Pepi has five goals, two assists in his last eight appearances.
Haji Wright has four goals in his last eight apps.
Josh Sargent has two goals, one assist in his last eight apps (but missed a short period through injury).— Larry Henry Jr (@lhenry019) November 9, 2022
Berhalter admitting the race was between Jordan Pefok/ Haji Wright & not Ricardo Pepi is interesting given his recent form & qualifiers involvement
But the USMNT does have a tendency of relying on players for Concacaf games before leaving them out of WC rosters
— Lizzy Becherano (@lizzy_becherano) November 9, 2022
Another Twitter user mentioned that the USMNT does have the habit of ignoring players when the time comes for World Cup selection. For context, Pepi has more experience with the US National Team. Since making his debut at just 18 years old, Pepi has made 12 appearances for his country so far.
He scored 3 goals and made 3 assists. On the other hand, Haji Wright has only played 3 games for the National Team and has only scored once.
It seems like Pepi’s recent form in terms of playmaking and chance creation gives him the edge over Haji Wright for fans. However, Gregg chose the latter for the World Cup in Qatar this year. US fans can only hope that decision plays out in their favor.