GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala – The United States has ended a 13-year drought in international futsal.

The Americans qualified for the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Lithuania after registering a 2-0 win over the Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Concacaf Futsal Championship at the Domo Polideportivo de la CDAG Friday.

It will be the sixth time the U.S. qualified for the FIFA Futsal World Cup and the first time since 2008.

Raphael Araujo lifted the U.S. an early 1-0 lead. The Caribbean side looked to answer, but was unable to breach a very solid American defense.

A Tomas Pondeca goal in the second half added some insurance and allowed the USA to close things out to clinch a World Cup berth and a place in Saturday’s semifinals.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.