The USMNT returned to the World Cup in 2022 after an eight-year absence from the biggest tournament in international soccer, and it has been a solid tournament for Team USA so far.
They were drawn into Group B for the tournament, which, along with the USA, included England, Wales and Iran. This group was officially the toughest group in the 2022 World Cup, as all four teams were in the top 20 of the FIFA World Rankings, with England ranked at fifth, the USA ranked at 16, Wales ranked at 19, and Iran ranked at 20.
In their first match Team USA took on Wales. The USMNT scored first, with Team Weah scoring in the 36th minute on a pass from Christian Pulisic. The US held onto their 1-0 lead for the next 45 minutes, until Gareth Bale drew a foul on Walker Zimmerman in the US penalty box. This gave Bale a penalty kick, which he converted to tie the game at 1-1. The game finished with this score, giving the US and Wales both 1 point.
In their next match the USMNT took on England, who beat Iran 6-2 in their first game of the World Cup. England has been viewed as one of as one of the favorites to win this World Cup, so it was going to be a challenge for Team USA to get a win or draw.
In the match, both teams generated many chances, but there were no goals scored and the game ended in a 0-0 draw. This was an encouraging result for Team USA, as they were able to go toe to toe with one of the best teams in the tournament, and even came close to beating England if they had been able to score on one of their chances.
Going into the final game of the group stage, Team USA sat in third place in the group. England was in first place with 4 points, Iran was in second with 3 points after they beat Wales in their second game, the USA was in third with 2 points, and Wales was in fourth with 1 point. This meant that, in their final game of the group stage, against Iran, Team USA had to win to advance to the knockout stage.
In the 38 minute of the match, Christian Pulisic scored for the USA to put them up 1-0. Pulisic collided with Iran’s goalie when he scored, and was taken out of the game at halftime with an abdominal injury.
The US had a second goal taken off the board when Tim Weah was called offside on a goal he scored in stoppage time of the first half. For the rest of the match Iran tried to score an equalizing goal that would’ve sent them through to the knockout stage and eliminated Team USA, but they weren’t able to score and the US won 1-0.
This win, and the three points it gave them, advanced the US to the knockout stage. In the final Group B standings, England finished first with 7 points after their 3-0 win over Wales in their final group stage game, the US finished second with 5 points, Iran finished third with 3 points, and Wales finished fourth with 1 point. In the round of 16, team USA will play the Netherlands, who won Group A.
This game will be at 2:00 P.M. EST on Saturday December 3. It should be an exciting game, and with a win the US will advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002, which is the furthest the have made it in the World Cup since their third place finish in 1930.