It’s simple: If the U.S. wins, it stays in the World Cup. Anything less, and it’s headed home from Qatar after the group stage. Follow along here.
U.S. men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter has likened the squad’s last group match at the 2022 World Cup to a knockout match, and he’s not wrong.
It’s make-or-break, win-or-go-home for the United States which is facing Iran in a Group B finale in Qatar on Tuesday. After tying Wales and England, the U.S.’s range of outcomes is finite. If it does not win, its World Cup will be over. If it does win, it’s headed to the knockout stage regardless, and depending on what happens in the simultaneous group finale between England and Wales, it could still finish in first (the group winner will play Senegal in the round of 16; second-place finisher will face the Netherlands).
That makes the task at hand rather straightforward, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. Iran, which is playing amid turmoil back home, bounced back from a 6–2 loss to England to stifle and then beat Wales, 2–0, scoring twice deep into second-half stoppage time to position itself well for a first trip to the knockout stage in team history. All sorts of noise, controversy and turmoil have accompanied this fixture, only adding layers to what is shaping up to be a defining 90 minutes for a young U.S. team.
Berhalter made two changes from the lineup that started against England on Friday, giving Cameron Carter-Vickers his World Cup debut in place of Walker Zimmerman, while Josh Sargent was restored to the XI after sitting vs. the Three Lions in favor of Haji Wright. Gio Reyna, whose lack of playing time has become a talking point surrounding this team, remained an option off the bench.
Three of the U.S. starters (Weston McKennie, Sergiño Dest, Tim Ream) are carrying yellow cards that they saw in the opener vs. Wales, which only comes into play if they see another one and the U.S. advances. Picking up another one Monday would result in a last-16 suspension, should the U.S. get there.
Follow along here for live updates and highlights of goals and key plays from throughout the match (refresh for most recent updates).
Here is the U.S.’s lineup:
Full World Cup Squads
USA
GOALKEEPERS: Ethan Horvath (Luton Town), Sean Johnson (NYCFC), Matt Turner (Arsenal)
DEFENDERS: Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Sergiño Dest (AC Milan), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Shaq Moore (Nashville SC), Tim Ream (Fulham), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)
MIDFIELDERS: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Kellyn Acosta (LAFC), Tyler Adams (Leeds United), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders)
FORWARDS: Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Josh Sargent (Norwich City), Tim Weah (Lille), Haji Wright (Antalyaspor)
COACH: Gregg Berhalter
Iran
GOALKEEPERS: Amir Abedzadeh (Ponferradina), Alireza Beiranvand (Persepolis), Hossein Hosseini (Esteghlal), Payam Niazmand (Sepahan)
DEFENDERS: Rouzbeh Cheshmi (Esteghlal), Ehsan Hajsafi (AEK Athens), Majid Hosseini (Kayserispor), Abolfazl Jalali (Esteghlal), Hossein Kanaanizadegan (Al-Ahli), Shojae Khalilzadeh (Al-Ahli), Milad Mohammadi (AEK Athens), Sadegh Moharrami (Dinamo Zagreb), Morteza Pouraliganji (Persepolis), Ramin Rezaeian (Sepahan)
MIDFIELDERS: Vahid Amiri (Persepolis), Saeid Ezatolahi (Vejle), Saman Ghoddos (Brentford), Ali Gholizadeh (Charleroi), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Feyenoord), Ali Karimi (Kayserispor), Ahmad Nourollahi (Shabab Al-Ahli), Mehdi Torabi (Persepolis)
FORWARDS: Karim Ansarifard (Omonia), Sardar Azmoun (Bayer Leverkusen), Mehdi Taremi (Porto)
COACH: Carlos Queiroz
