On October 10, 2017, Trinidad and Tobago played against the United States at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva in what was the final 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match for both teams.
[1] Following consecutive losses to Mexico and Costa Rica in the opening games of the final round of qualification in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Jürgen Klinsmann was fired from the United States men's national team job and replaced by former USMNT coach Bruce Arena.
[4] Three months after that, they beat Trinidad and Tobago 2–0 in Commerce City, Colorado, both goals coming from Christian Pulisic, giving the United States a total of 7 points in the qualification group standings.
Despite their unremarkable play to that point, the United States entered their final WCQ match in excellent position to secure an eighth-consecutive World Cup appearance, and a seemingly impossible combination of results would have to occur to prevent this.
Moreover, if one of these two teams were to win, the U.S. would remain in contention with a loss or a draw by the other; this latter scenario would lock the U.S. into fourth-place and force a two-legged tie with Australia, who had defeated Syria 3–2 on aggregate.
[15] As Trinidad and Tobago were already eliminated from advancement to the World Cup, they included a number of young and untested players in their starting lineup rather than their usual starters, a common practice.
[16][17] The U.S. brought in Clint Dempsey with hopes of creating more opportunities and managed to score a goal two minutes into the second half through Christian Pulisic, but their efforts were in vain as the Soca Warriors held them back until the final whistle.
Shaka Hislop, a former goalkeeper who represented Trinidad and Tobago in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, blamed the U.S. media for asking Arena about the performance of European players and other unrelated questions of the match the day before.
[35] Some news outlets and journalists described this American loss as a "revenge", particularly by pointing that the United States had prevented Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica, and Panama from qualifying to the 1990, 2010, and 2014 World Cups, respectively.
We'd rather not" and that Kelvin Jones, who was an unused substitute during the United States' victory over Trinidad and Tobago in 1989, had his son Alvin ensuring "that, for at least the next four years, the USA's Pulisic will now know how he felt.
Former regulars such as Howard, Dempsey, Altidore, and Bradley retired or were phased out of the team and were replaced by young players such as Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah, and Sergiño Dest who helped to guide the U.S. back to the top of CONCACAF and ultimately towards qualification for the following World Cup in 2022.