The United States rode the shoulders of its star, Christian Pulisic, to the knockout round of the 2022 World Cup on Tuesday, eight years after their last appearance in the world’s most popular tournament.
The U.S. men’s national team defeated Iran 1-0 in a game that it anxiously controlled throughout — the U.S. had possession of the ball for little more than half of the game, and had 12 shots (5 on goal) to Iran’s 4 (with one on goal).
But they may have to take on the Netherlands in their next match without Pulisic, following an injury he sustained immediately after his go-ahead score.
“In the first half we showed them what we could do soccer wise. The second half, we showed what we could do determination-wise,” said USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter, who won his first World Cup match as a coach on Tuesday. “We’re undefeated going into the next round.”
The game, the final match of the Qatar World Cup’s opening stage, was a must-win for the U.S., who had tied with both Wales and England in their first two matches of the World Cup. Had the match ended in a loss or a tie, Iran would have moved on to the next round, alongside group winner England.
But the win may have come at the cost of Pulisic’s health. He scored a close-range goal in the 38th minute of the match, driving a pass into the bottom corner of the Iranian goal — but in the process, he collided with the Iranian goalie, Alireza Beiranvand, and laid on the field in pain for a few minutes. He tried to soldier on, but was subbed out at halftime, ending his night. After the game, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced Pulisic had been taken to the hospital with an abdominal injury.
Iran brought the fought to the United States in the game’s second half, winning a handful of free kicks and taking a handful of shots at the U.S. goal with only a handful of minutes left in extra time, but the U.S. defense held firm.
This match was massive for the U.S. as it sought to reclaim its standing on the international soccer stage. The Men’s National Team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, leading to a complete reshuffling and a focus on the next generation of players. The 2022 squad came into this year’s cup as the third-youngest team in the tournament. This year’s U.S. team is filled with players who play overseas, building their skills in top European leagues. Seven of the team’s players, including Pulisic, currently play for English Premier League clubs, with others in Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A and Spain’s La Liga.
The match with Iran had a touch of geopolitical drama to go alongside the on-field action; amid the ever-present political tensions between the United States and Iran, the U.S. Soccer Federation posted an image of the standings of World Cup Group B, with the flags of each nation — the U.S., England, Wales and Iran. But Iran’s flag was scrubbed of the emblem of the Islamic Republic — a move that the USSF said was done to “show support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights.”
In response, Iranian leaders sought to lodge a complaint with FIFA, international soccer’s governing body, while Iranian state-affiliated media said the U.S. should be kicked out of the tournament.
Previously, Iranian players made their own statement by visibly refusing to sing the country’s national anthem before their first World Cup match.
On Monday, Berhalter and team captain Tyler Adams responded to pointed questions from Iranian journalists — and very few regarding soccer. When pressed for his thoughts, as a Black man, about representing the U.S. amid “discrimination against Black people in its own borders,” Adams replied that discrimination exists everywhere, and that education is important to counter it.
“One thing that I’ve learned, especially from living abroad in the past years and having to fit in in different cultures and kind of assimilate into different cultures, is that in the US, we’re continuing to make progress every single day,” Adams replied.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden returned to a stage in Michigan, where he had just finished a speech about the economy, to inform the audience about the win and lead a chant of “U-S-A!”
“That’s a big game, man. When I spoke to the coach and the players, I said, ‘You can do this.’ They went ‘eh,'” Biden told the crowd. “They did it, God love ’em. Anyway, just thought you might want to hear.”
The U.S. will meet the Netherlands, the winner of Group A and the 10th ranked team in FIFA’s world ranking, on Saturday.
