The teams of Iran and the USA remained in the game for reaching the 1/8 finals of the World Cup until the last round of the group stage. It was the teams mentioned above that decided among themselves the issue of leaving the group, since in a parallel game England beat Wales.
The last matches in group B promised to be very interesting, because before the matches of the third round, each of the teams had a chance to go to the 1/8 finals of the World Cup in Qatar. The British were in the best position, thanks to the victory over Iran and a draw with the USA, they had four points on their account.
Carlos Queiroz’s team, which won against Wales, collected less and the Americans advanced to the third round with two points for draws with Wales and England. Wales finished last in the group with a point. Such decisions meant that a draw would be enough for Iran to move forward, provided England beat the Welsh in a parallel match.
World Cup 2022. Iran - USA. The Americans pressed
The situation in group B determined the course of the meeting between Iran and the United States. It was the Yankees who from the first minutes tried to impose their pace of the game, while their rivals vigilantly positioned themselves on the defensive and waited for an opportunity to counterattack.
A good opportunity to beat Alireza Beiranvandu in the 9th minute had Weston McKenny, who shot from several meters with a half-volley, but missed the target. In the following minutes, Gregg Berhalter’s men tried to shoot, but their passes were inaccurate and did not lead to a threat under the Iranians’ goal.
World Cup. American players did their best
Timothy Weah aimed insanely, who on 29 minutes first hit Beiranvand with his head, and after a few minutes sent the ball into the stands with a sharp angle shot. And although the Americans were often inaccurate, they eventually forced the defense of their opponents. In the 38th minute, a cross into the penalty area was knocked down by Sergin Dest, the ball hit the leg of Christian Pulisic, who shot into the goal from several meters away.
A few minutes later, the Americans could increase the gap, but at the decisive moment, Majid Hosseini interrupted the counterattack of his opponents. Weah came close to scoring in injury time, but his shot from a tight angle was not scored as LOSC Lille was offside.
Iran was chasing the score
The American lead meant that Iran needed to play more aggressively in the second half. The Queiroz fighters looked for opportunities in positional attack, but played too slowly and left large gaps between formations in long passages.
Matt Turner’s goal did not start until 20 minutes into the second half. In the 65th minute, the ball, played from the right flank, hit the penalty area of Saman Goddos, who almost missed. A few minutes later, Said Ezatolahi threw a sixteen shot, but also missed.
USA in the 1/8 finals of the World Cup
The Iranians were still looking for opportunities to score a goal, and the Americans were already focused mainly on playing from counterattacks. Queiroz’s wards had another good situation in the third minute of stoppage time, when Morteza Puraliganji reached the ball from a free-kick and hit the pike with his head wide of the post.
The score 1:0 in favor of the United States did not change until the end of the meeting, thanks to which the Americans reached the 1/8 finals of the World Cup from second place. The Group B rivalry was won by England, who beat the Welsh in a parallel game.
Source: Wprost
