The United States held on for dear life and beat Iran 1-0 Tuesday to advance to the World Cup round of 16 while eliminating Team Melli. It looked like it would be a comfortable evening after Christian Pulisic put the U.S. up 1-0 in the 38th minute and with the Americans winning every individual duel on the pitch, but Iran dominated the final 20 minutes searching for an all-important equalizer.
Needing a win over Iran to advance to the World Cup round of 16, USMNT star Christian Pulisic got his first-ever goal on the world's biggest stage to put his nation up 1-0 in the 38th minute.
Weston McKennie got the move started with an excellent ball over the top to Sergiño Dest, and Dest played it across the face of goal to meet the advancing Pulisic.
Questions surrounded Senegal heading into the World Cup after star attacker Sadio Mané was ruled out of the tournament, but the Lions of Teranga aren't the champions of Africa because of the efforts of one single individual. Senegal clinched the runner-up spot in Group A and eliminated Ecuador by defeating La Tri 2-1 at Khalifa International Stadium on Tuesday.
Since the draw for the 2022 World Cup occurred in April, the Black Friday USA matchup against England had been circled on the calendar for both sides. With so much history both off the field and on, we arrived at the next chapter thirsty for a fantastic show.
The last time USA and England met in a World Cup, the match ended as a 1-1 draw in 2010 after Clint Dempsey fired home a shot that bounced off Robert Green's hands and rolled behind him into the net.
DOHA - The United States shut out a European side at the World Cup for the first time since 1950 but left the tent-like Al Bayt Stadium without a win after Friday's tense goalless stalemate against England, a contest where they were superior for long periods.
England had crushed Iran 6-2 in their Group B opener to justify their status as one of the tournament favorites, but they were fortunate to come away with a point against Gregg Berhalter's young and energetic team.
Alexi Lalas is a polarizing character in the U.S. Soccer sphere. Beloved as player but not so much as a pundit, Lalas can rub people the wrong way. Despite this, the Alexi Lalas England pregame speech on FOX before kickoff could make his most vehement haters feel something.
The USA is about to play arguably its biggest men’s soccer game in recent history. This could be a defining moment for the program and Lalas emphasized this before kickoff.
The host nation Qatar always needed a miracle to advance beyond the group stage of the 2022 World Cup. Despite an intensive 12-year program to turn the program from a minnow of the Asian Football Confederation to a deserving part of the 32-team finals, that miracle was revealed as false hope after Qatar fell 2-0 to Senegal on Friday to become the first team eliminated from the competition if the Dutch win or draw against Ecuador later today.
DOHA - Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score in five World Cups after netting a penalty in his side's opening Group H game against Ghana on Thursday.
He hit home in the 64th minute to give Portugal the lead after being tripped in the box.
PENALTY FOR PORTUGAL
Do you agree with the call? pic.twitter.com/ZYTaNTlnfE— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 24, 2022
Australia’s opening World Cup game against France went pretty must as expected. France dominated and cruised to a 4-1 victory, but there were 18 beautiful minutes that the Socceroos held a 1-0 lead.
Because of time zones, fans back in the land down under had a groggy morning to watch their team play. Kickoff was at 6 a.m. for fans that gathered to watch in Melbourne. Despite the fact the sun rose only a couple minutes before kickoff, the energy was still there from the fans.
You'll hear the sentiment over and over again during tournament coverage: There are no mysteries at the World Cup anymore — modernity and globalization have combined to eliminate the past thrill of the complete unknown showing up on our TV screens and taking over.