The match: 0-1
From the first match between the United States and Iran at the World Cup (1-2), during the group stage of 1998, everyone will long remember the iconic photo taken before the match. But we must also remember the result of the second, won this Tuesday by the still unbeaten Americans (1-0). Thanks to this logical success given dominance over an inoffensive opponent, they finished second in Group B behind England and qualified for the round of 16 of a World Cup for the seventh time in their history. But on Saturday (4pm), it will be a completely different schedule against the Netherlands.
After two first games as convincing as they were frustrating, Gregg Berhalter’s players attacked this round of 16, in a sense, still with the ambition to move forward. They quickly got their best chances (17th, 28th and 30th), before their star player, Christian Pulisic, opened the scoring on a good collective sequence, after a discount from Serginho Dest (33rd). Timothy Weah thought he had doubled the bet just before the break, but his goal was disallowed for offside position (45th + 7).
As against Wales, against which it ended up cracking (1-1), Team USA was less sovereign in the second half. He also got scared on a header by former Amiénois Saman Ghoddos (52nd), another by Morteza Pouraliganji (90th + 3) and a last scorching situation (90th + 8). But this time the score has not changed. And for the third consecutive edition, after 2010 and 2014, the United States, absent in 2018, manage to extricate themselves from the groups. Something that Iran has touched for the first time.
The player: Pulisic unlucky scorer
Highly anticipated from the start of the tournament, Christian Pulisic must have waited until the third game to score his first goal, his 22nd for the national team (in 55 appearances). Already a decisive passer-by for Weah against Wales (1-1), the Chelsea winger (24′) did not spare himself in the first half, to the point of having to leave at the interval, after a big shock suffered with the Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand on his goal (38th). But by then the Americans had played the hard part, knowing their last eight games with a goal from the former Dortmund player had ended in a win. They can once again thank their lucky charm.
24
At kickoff, the United States had a eleven with the youngest average age in the tournament (24 years and 321 days) and the fourth-youngest American selection in World Cup history.
