World Cup: United States needs a win against Iran to advance

The national team must win to advance to the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar.

In their first two matches of the group stage, the United States outplayed their opponents. But the results did not match the quality play of the North Americans. The USMNT is depending on itself, but is obliged to beat Iran tomorrow at the Al Thumama Stadium at 22:00 (13:00 GMT-6), in its last 90 minutes of the group stage. The two points obtained in the first two rounds are not enough. They need to beat Iran to continue in the World Cup. The United States has what it takes to beat the Asian team.

Iran is second in the group. Although they defeated Wales in the second match of Group B (0-2), England thrashed them on the first day (6-2). The English and American teams have many similarities: they have a direct style of play and generate a lot of scoring chances. The team coached by Gregg Berhalter has proven to have a knack for getting into the opponent's box and scoring goals, so if the English could score six goals and win, the United States can also achieve victory.

The young American generation started the other two matches energetic, impetuous and showing a desire to take all three points. With the good game they played, the verticality they showed and the intensity with which they took the field, they will have a good chance of winning.

Superior against Wales and England

Against Wales, the national team dominated from the start, had control of the ball and created more danger than the Welsh. They started winning with a goal by Timothy Weah in the 35th minute but Gareth Bale equalized with 9 minutes left to play. The final score was 1-1.

Against England - one of the teams favored to win the World Cup - the USMNT had the best chances of the match and was the best team on the field. They also did a good job defensively, although they did not manage to score the goal that would have given them the victory. The match ended in a 0-0 draw. At the conclusion of the 90 minutes, head coach Gregg Berhalter said the team's goal is to get the five points that will assure them of advancing to the next round:

We are proud but our work is not finished. We have to win on Tuesday and that's why we know that five points will qualify us. We need to focus on the five points.

For his part, one of the stars of the national team, Christian Pulisic felt they deserved to win the match:

We managed the game quite well, and a draw against them is obviously a good result, but we believe we could have won the game.