It’s USA against Panama in World Cup qualifying action tonight at CenturyLink, and 35,000 of you are planning to be there. Here’s the scoop.

1) A win tonight inches OUR COUNTRY closer to making the next World Cup.
The U.S. is one of six teams vying to represent North America in the 2014 World Cup. The top three teams get in automatically, and the U.S. is tied for first with 7 points. Panama is 4th with 6 points.

2) Ignore what your ticket says, the game starts at 7:08.
The 6:30 start time on your ticket is a lie perpetrated by the lamestream media. ESPN’s coverage of the game begins at 7 p.m., and they’ll want to fit in their pre-game twaddle, so 7:08 is the official game time. Although…

3) You may want to get in your seats a little early, as a potentially awesome tifo display is being planned.
Tifo are the big-ass banners soccer fans make to display before games, and rumor has it that Seattle’s tifo experts will roll out a good one over the south stands a few minutes before kickoff. One Seattle artist has already contributed — Art Chantry created this limited-edition poster for the match.

4) The field surface is a thing people are talking about.
Any weird hop or — especially — any major injury, will be blamed on the temporary grass surface that U.S. Soccer insisted on, over the objections of Sounders management. The temporary surface is lumpy and has been pre-dissed by U.S. players DeMarcus Beasley and Michael Bradley. Sports Illustrated‘s Grant Wahl writes that the surface looks like a “cheap toupée.” This really has been one of the big soccer insider stories of the game, which is why you should never talk to soccer insiders at parties.

5) Sounders Brad Evans and Eddie Johnson are very likely to play and maybe even start — though not where you’re used to seeing them.
Evans is a midfielder with the Sounders, but plays in defense for Team USA. He should start after scoring the game-winning goal Friday night in Jamaica. Johnson, a forward with the Sounders, could start as a wide midfielder; the U.S. has a couple starting midfield spots open with Graham Zusi suspended for the match and Jermaine Jones recovering from a concussion.

6) Panama is not that great.
The Panamanians, who play a physical style of soccer, have never qualified for the World Cup. No one on their roster plays in Europe. They have one win in 11 games all-time vs. the US. And Panama’s top-scorer, FC Dallas star Blas Perez, will miss the game with a bad case of the flu. So…

7) Anything less than a U.S. win will be a huge disappointment and possibly cause for panic.
A loss would be devastating; the U.S. hasn’t lost a home qualifying match since 2001. But even a tie against Panama would set up a virtual must-win next week against Honduras, with games against group leaders Costa Rica and Mexico coming next, and cool the already tepid support for head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.