Even though the United States men’s national team earned a tie against England on Friday, there’s still work left to do for the boys in red, white and blue if they want to advance to the knockout round of the World Cup.
The goods news is the Americans hold their destiny in their own hands, but there isn’t much margin for error.
After recording two draws in their first two matches, the U.S. will now need a win over Iran, who beat Wales on Friday, to get past the group stage. U.S. and Iran are set to play Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET.
England still leads Group B despite the scoreless deadlock against the U.S. while Iran is in second place with three points. Iran suffered a 6-2 drubbing against England in their opening match but bounced back nicely to take down Wales, 2-0.
That leaves the U.S. in third place in the group and nothing but a win will keep their World Cup hopes alive. The U.S. and Iran have only played once against each other on the World Cup stage, which came in 1998. Iran won that contest, 2-1.
The U.S. has advanced to the knockout round in each of the past two World Cups they have played in.
