Yes but as one Australian writer pointed out, the pool of candidates for qualification that includes the US is pretty weak tea. He claims it's intentional and that US qualification means corporate sponsorship dollars keep flowing to FIFA and it's hard to argue at times. I don't know if CONMEBOL and CONCACAF will ever mingle but perhaps moving to a different mix of qualification opponents would a) provide a sterner test for the US and b) better prepare them for WC opposition.
Kind of ironic for an Australian (Oceana region) to make that claim. Didn't the Aussies win a qualifying round of home-and-away by a combined 35-0 this time around...
This region isn't as weak as it looks. Mexico is a perennial top team, maybe not in their best form lately, but still atraditional powerhouse. Costa Rica gave the host Germans a good showing. I think there are 5 or 6 CONCACAF sides in the FIFA top 100, including 2 in the top 10 (though the US's ranking is somewhat dubious after recent poor showings).
Oh thats a ridiculous claim. They did'nt day that when the US was not qualifying? It was one bad game (albeit very bad).