For USMNT, it’s win or go home

By Dylan Butler | Posted 1 year ago

Win and they’re in. 

 

Of all the permutations teams face in the final match of the group stage at the World Cup, what the US Men’s National Team need to do to advance to the knockout stage is as clear as day. 

 

They need to beat Iran Tuesday. Any other result means the USMNT’s World Cup dream in Qatar is dashed. 

 

Iran’s 2-0 win over Wales on Friday clarified the situation long before the U.S. kicked off against England in one of the one anticipated games of the tournament. 

 

A win over the Three Lions would have changed the scenario and given the young Yanks a greater possibility of advancing. 

 

Instead, the U.S. battled to a 0-0 draw with one of the World Cup favorites on Black Friday, an encouraging performance after settling for a disappointing 1-1 draw against Wales in their World Cup opener. 

 

The U.S. took the game to England for large chunks and came close to pulling off the monumental win, with Christian Pulisic hitting the crossbar in the first half and Weston McKennie putting an open half-volley in the box over the bar. 

 

On the other side, goalkeeper Matt Turner dived to push away a Mason Mount attempt that would have given England, ranked No. 5 in the world, the early lead.  

 

“There's a lot of people that obviously thought we were going to get blown out,” McKennie said after the match. “We went into this game [to] the outside world obvious underdogs. But for us, we didn't feel like an underdog at all. Because we know our capabilities, we know what we can do. We know what talents and fight and spirit we have. So I think we're not really afraid of playing against top-tier teams.”

 

The draw took some of the bitter taste from the 1-1 result against Wales in a game the U.S. jumped in front on a goal from Tim Weah, were unable to find a second goal from a dominant opening 45 minutes and conceded late from the penalty spot after Walker Zimmerman fouled Gareth Bale in the box. 

 

“Most importantly, the belief of the group, that never wavered,” US head coach Gregg Berhalter said of his team. “What I saw in pregame was a team that was extremely focused on getting a result tonight, and I'm glad we did so. So in the end, it sets up our first knockout game in the World Cup, basically. Win or we're out of the World Cup, and that's going to be a focus of ours.”

 

Heading into the final match of the group stage, England top Group B with four points from their decisive 6-2 win over Iran and the draw against the US, Iran are second with three points, the U.S. are third with two points and Wales are fourth with one point. 

 

The top two teams advance to the knockout stage and all four teams are alive heading into Tuesday’s matches with simultaneous 2 p.m. ET kickoffs. 

 

There is history, of course, between Iran and the United States, both politically and on the soccer pitch. 

 

The teams met during group play in the 1998 World Cup, with Iran claiming a 2-1 win, a result that eliminated the USMNT from advancing to the knockout stage after just two matches in Group F. 

 

The U.S. followed with a 1-0 loss to Yugoslavia and left France after three consecutive defeats. 

 

The U.S. and Iran met again in an international friendly two years later, with the teams playing to a 1-1 draw at the Rose Bowl. 

 

Either of those scorelines would mean Iran would reach the Round of 16 for the first time and Team Melli will surely be buoyed by what should be massive support on Tuesday. 

 

The stakes cannot be larger for the USMNT in what promises to be a challenging match. 

 

“I think any time you're in a World Cup and you get to go into the last group game controlling your destiny, that's a pretty good thing,” coach Gregg Berhalter said in his postgame press conference. “England has the same scenario, we have the same scenario, and it's fine for us.”

 

Group Stage big storylines 

 

Qatar made history Friday with a 3-1 loss to Senegal, becoming the first host nation to be eliminated after the first two games of the competition. 

 

There were some eye-opening upsets too, with Saudi Arabia shocking the world with a 2-1 win over Argentina in the opening match of Group C with The Green scoring twice in a span of five minutes after Lionel Messi opened the scoring for Argentina from the penalty spot. 

 

A day later, Japan sent shockwaves around the globe following a 2-1 victory over Germany with the Samurai Blue following a similar script with Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano, who both compete in the German Bundesliga, scoring eight minutes apart late in the second half. Germany led 1-0 to that point on Ilkay Gundogan’s 33rd-minute penalty kick. 

 

Spain also made headlines for a dominant 7-0 victory over Costa Rica in their first match in Group E, though it fell short of most goals scored by one team in a World Cup match. That was set by Hungary following a 10-1 win over El Salvador in 1982. 

 

Cristiano Ronaldo made history with his 65th minute penalty kick in a wild 3-2 victory over Ghana in Group H with the Portugal star becoming the first men’s player in World Cup history to score in five World Cups. 

 

Brazil’s hopes of winning a sixth World Cup may have suffered a devastating blow when it was ruled that superstar Neymar suffered an ankle injury during a 2-0 win over Serbia in their Group G opener. 

 

Neymar, who has 75 goals in 122 appearances and is two goals shy of Pele’s scoring record for the men’s national team, was ruled out of Brazil’s second match of the group stage against Switzerland and could be sidelined longer. 


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