U.S. Soccer announced Wednesday that the United States national team will face New Zealand in an international friendly on Oct. 11 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.
The match will be the USMNT’s final tuneup before likely beginning the Hexagonal stage for 2018 World Cup qualifying. The USMNT currently sit in second place in Group C with games remaining against St. Vincent and the Grenadines (Sept. 2) and Trinidad and Tobago (Sept. 6).
New Zealand and the United States last played in 2003 in an exhibition leading into the Confederations Cup. New Zealand are currently ranked No. 93 in the world and narrowly missed qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, falling to Mexico in the inter-continental playoff.
The U.S. will also play Cuba in a friendly on Oct. 7 in Havana.
It’s unclear if the international friendlies will affect the Seattle Sounders and their trio of USMNT players – Clint Dempsey, Brad Evans and Jordan Morris have all featured for Jurgen Klinsmann’s squad in 2016 – but the Sounders have a bye on the weekend of Oct. 8-9 before hosting the Houston Dynamo on Oct. 13.
