The U.S. Soccer Federation is looking into the possibility of an event next year involving nations that did not qualify for the World Cup. The idea of an exhibition tournament has been floated for soccer teams such as the United States, Italy, Chile and Ghana that won’t be playing in Russia.
USA's hopes of taking part in next year's World Cup were dashed when they lost 2-1 to Trinidad & Tobago in October.
At the moment, it isn't clear if FIFA will allow the exhibition matches to take place along side the World Cup, which is set to take place from Thursday 14 June to Sunday 15 July 2018. If it is to go ahead, the USA, Italy and Republic Of Ireland would be potentially joined by the likes of Chile, Ghana, Wales and the Netherlands.
If they were also to include teams such as China and India, the exhibition tournament could potentially be viewed by more people than the World Cup itself.
With the list of 2018 World Cup absentees now containing some of the most popular teams around the globe - including the United States, Italy and the Netherlands - it only makes sense that there would be discussions about how to potentially cash in.
Such talks have begun, and the result could be another event for soccer fans to look forward to in 2018. Preliminary discussions have already taken place between U.S. Soccer, Soccer United Marketing and FOX about trying to put together a summer tournament featuring top teams that won't take part in the World Cup, sources with knowledge of the conversations confirmed to Goal.
The tournament idea, first suggested on social media, gained traction Monday when Italy was eliminated by Sweden, which advanced with a 1-0 aggregate playoff win. The Italians will miss soccer's premier event for the first time in six decades.
