Atlanta United’s Thiago Almada becomes the first active MLS player to reach the World Cup Final… and could become the TENTH World Cup winner to play in the league if Argentina lift the trophy in Qatar this Sunday
The advancement of Argentina to the World Cup Final marked an important milestone for Major League Soccer.
By advancing to the championship game, midfielder Thiago Almada of Atlanta United has officially become the first active MLS player to reach the final of the world’s most important sporting tournament.
This year, a total of 36 MLS players made World Cup rosters for their countries, according to the club. That includes Argentina, Australia, Cameroon, Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Poland, Switzerland, the United States, Uruguay, and Wales
Thiago Almada of Atlanta United is the first active MLS player to make a World Cup final
The 21-year old midfielder became the second active MLS player to take part in a semifinal
Almada has not gotten a lot of playing time while he’s been in Qatar, logging just six minutes in total.
He was substituted onto the pitch at the 83′ of Argentina’s 2-0 win over Poland in the final game of the group stage – replacing Alexis Mac Allister.
Almada is the youngest player on Argentina’s roster, born just months after the next youngest player – midfielder Enzo Fernandez.
If he wins the World Cup Final, he’d become one of only ten MLS players to have ever done so
With today’s match against Croatia, Almada became the second active MLS player in history to be on the roster in a World Cup semifinal, after Júlio César played in 2014 while on loan at Toronto FC.
A total of nine World Cup champions have played in MLS in the past – including Brazil’s Kaka, Denilson, and Kleberson, France’s Thierry Henry and Blaise Matuidi, Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger, Italy’s Andrea Pirlo and Alessandro Nesta, and Spain’s David Villa.
Argentina plays the winner of tomorrow’s semifinal match between France and Morocco in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final this Sunday.
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