USMNT faces four opponents in World Cup qualifying: El Salvador, Canada, Honduras, and Mother Nature

By now, the U.S. men’s soccer team should have convinced you that its World Cup qualifiers are never easy, no matter how much you wish for them to be.

If that hasn’t happened yet, the next set might put an end to your dreams for good.

It’s not just that the Americans’ upcoming opponents — El Salvador, Canada, and Honduras — are known for trying to stop teams from playing attractive soccer.

Because Canada will host the U.S. on Sunday outdoors on artificial turf in the Toronto exurb of Hamilton, Ontario, the U.S. is hosting El Salvador on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio. And because U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter wanted a short flight out of Canada, the Americans will host Honduras next Wednesday in St. Paul, Minn.

The forecast highs and lows for each city on game day: 49 and 27, 24 and 11, 18 and 3. Snow? Maybe, probably not, and quite likely, in that order. Wind? Yes, yes, and yes.

You don’t have to be a meteorologist to know that stuff that makes NFL playoff magic — especially if you’re watching on your couch — makes soccer brutal, even for players who are used to winter games with European clubs. It gets quite a bit colder in America’s heartland than it does in the Old Continent’s.

Playing in Columbus instead of somewhere more comfortable before going to Canada is understandable. But going to Minnesota is a significant gamble, at the most significant stretch of the entire qualifying campaign.

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If the Americans (4-1-3, 15 points) can rack up more than six points (e.g. two wins) from the three games, they’ll be on the doorstep of qualifying for Qatar with just three more games left in March.

And while Berhalter understandably spent his Wednesday news conference emphasizing a game-by-game approach, he knows lots of people are looking at the bigger picture. Two of those March games will be the toughest road trips of all, to Mexico and Costa Rica. So this stretch matters a lot.

“I think there’s a great focus in the team,” Hershey-born star winger Christian Pulisic said. “We just need to take it game by game, win game by game. … We’re in a good position, and by the end of this window we can be in a great position, and that’s our focus.”

Beating next-to-last-place El Salvador (1-4-3, 6 points), plucky but short of offense, is a must. Bottom-dweller Honduras (0-5-3, 3 points) is even farther against the wall as it hosts Canada and El Salvador before flying to the Twin Cities.

Canada, however, is in the opposite position: first place, undefeated (4-0-4, 16 points), and on course for its first men’s World Cup berth since 1986.

After epic November wins over Costa Rica and Mexico in sub-freezing Edmonton, the Canucks had planned to host the U.S. at Vancouver’s BC Place. The 55,000-seat stage for the U.S. women’s team’s World Cup triumph would have hosted a bipartisan bash, with Canadian and U.S. fans enjoying pleasant conditions under a retractable roof.

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But right after those November games, Canada manager John Herdman changed course, suddenly pushing for shorter travel distances in this window. Canada plays at Honduras on Thursday, then at El Salvador next Wednesday. So the Canadian Soccer Association moved the U.S. game across the country to Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field, a 23,000-seat, artificial-turf venue near the western edge of Lake Ontario. (It’s not much farther from Buffalo than Toronto.)

That sent the U.S. Soccer Federation scrambling. Its original plan was to play these home games in soccer-mad Portland, Ore., and San Jose, Calif. Instead, they’ll be in the upper Midwest.

U.S. players are doing their best to use the circumstances to their advantage.

Centerback Walker Zimmerman, a lifelong Southerner, spoke of watching the famed U.S.-Costa Rica blizzard game in 2013 on TV, and wanting to “be part of something so iconic.”

Left back Antonee Robinson, born in England to American parents, remembered games he played as a kid on the day after Christmas: “All the sons would be playing against their dads on a snowy pitch, and that’s some of the happiest football I’ve ever played.”

Midfielder Tyler Adams, the U.S. team’s most important player, said “the cold is not going to stop us from doing what we do. If anything, it’s just going to cause us to run a little bit more to stay warm.”

It was notable that during Adams’ turn at the podium Tuesday, there were lots of weather questions and few about the U.S. team. Central midfielders Adams, Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah — nicknamed the “MMA” trio — are in great form with their clubs, and have built chemistry for their country. That’s among the many reasons to hope for a statement series.

“You come in with this confidence and a little bit of swagger,” Adams said.

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But there are fears, too. No. 1 goalkeeper Zack Steffen has a back injury, and has yet to travel to U.S. camp. Top right winger Gio Reyna has been out for months. The striker depth is limited by both talent and Berhalter’s choices.

The fan base is still scarred, too. Every little thing that comes along sparks a social media outcry: injuries, transfer rumors, coaching changes … and yes, the weather.

Get the job done over the next three games, and the U.S. will give its fan base enough warm feelings to make it to spring.