USMNT's Weston McKennie Suffers Foot Injury in Juventus' UCL Draw with Villarreal

United States men's national team star and Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie fractured the third and fourth metatarsals of his left foot in his club's 1-1 draw with Villarreal in the Champions League, according to Italian reporter Fabrizio Romano.

McKennie was subbed off in the 81st minute for Denis Zakaria.

The injury is bad news for both Juve and the USMNT.

McKennie has started 20 Serie A matches and three Champions League fixtures for Juventus, establishing himself as a key piece of the midfield.

The Italian club will now be without his services as it looks to close a nine-point gap on Serie A leader AC Milan. A win over Villarreal in the second leg is far from assured as well, so his absence raises the odds of a third successive UCL exit in the round of 16.

For the USMNT, the situation might be even worse.

The United States is second in the 2022 World Cup qualifying table with matches against Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica to come in March. For the moment, the team is on pace to qualify for the World Cup, but that outlook can easily change.

Only four points separate the U.S. from Panama in fourth place, which would mean dropping into the qualifying playoff. It's not out of the question for Gregg Berhalter's squad to fall all the way to fifth—Costa Rica trails the United States by five points—and thus miss the World Cup altogether for the second cycle in a row.

With those three crucial fixtures on the horizon, Berhalter will have to forge ahead without one of his top performers in recent months.