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OT: 2022 World Cup Thread

This result changes the dynamics of the group significantly. Getting a draw today is now irrelevant for the US. The objective is now to win. The absolute must is to stay close.

Losing by one or even two is probably acceptable. Creates a must win situation against Iran - but that match is now a must win even with a draw today.
I think we rather have the Iran as a must win. It’s pretty much a win and advance scenario. Better that then needing help. If you can’t win that , you don’t deserve to advance .
 
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If we beat Iran we would be on 4 pts. Iran would be on 3. Only way GD would come into play is if Wales beat England.
You're right my mistake. I'm not thinking. For some reason I was thinking we were on 0 points instead of 1 point. A win is all we need even if we lose to England by whatever margin.
 
How is it irrelevant? Usa has path to advance with two more ties = 3 points and a wales loss or tie with England .
Iran would have 4 points to the US' 3 in that situation. So that would put us in 3rd in the group. We just need a win against Iran. England result doesn't really matter as far as advancement. For whatever reason (must be too early on the day after Thanksgiving lol), I was thinking the US had 0 points instead of 1.
 
How is it irrelevant? Usa has path to advance with two more ties = 3 points and a wales loss or tie with England .
Nope. Under that scenario, England finishes ahead of the US with at least five points, and Iran finishes ahead of the US with four.

The only value of a draw is that it puts us ahead of Wales.
 
Iran would have 4 points to the US' 3 in that situation. So that would put us in 3rd in the group. We just need a win against Iran. England result doesn't really matter as far as advancement. For whatever reason (must be too early on the day after Thanksgiving lol), I was thinking the US had 0 points instead of 1.
England result matters if we win. That means we would only need a draw against Iran.

Anything short of a win against England, and the result matters only if Wales beats England, which I think is unlikely.
 
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Nope. Under that scenario, England finishes ahead of the US with at least five points, and Iran finishes ahead of the US with four.

The only value of a draw is that it puts us ahead of Wales.
Yes you’re right. 4 points for Iran over 3 for USA .
 
I find it odd in the event of a two way tie the tiebreaker is not head to head ? That seems dumb
 
England result matters if we win. That means we would only need a draw against Iran.

Anything short of a win against England, and the result matters only if Wales beats England, which I think is unlikely.
I'm assuming (we know what happens when you assume though lol) an England tie or win over Wales, so in my mind bare minimum for advancement is beat Iran and 4 points should get us through.
 
Kinda upsetting to fox tv that todays game with lots of people home to watch is meaningless . Almost like our game against Maryland tomorrow
 
This result changes the dynamics of the group significantly. Getting a draw today is now irrelevant for the US. The objective is now to win. The absolute must is to stay close.

Losing by one or even two is probably acceptable. Creates a must win situation against Iran - but that match is now a must win even with a draw today.
You’ve made it too complicated …

JUST BEAT IRAN

…destiny is in OUR hands; I like it! IIRC we tend to play crappy when we “only need a tie.”
 
Was rooting for the Wales-Iran scoreless tie, but this result shouldn’t matter much. Would almost need to beat Iran either way…. as long as England doesn’t blow us out. Can’t believe head to head is not the two team tie break.
 
I mean tying England and only needing a single point would be nice as well, as we’d only need a tie with Iran to advance (assuming England handles The Welsh), but I prefer us with our banks against the wall, needing the “W,” destiny in OUR hands.
Wouldn't that scenario create England with 5 or 6 points, Iran with 4 and the US with 3b
 
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Kinda upsetting to fox tv that todays game with lots of people home to watch is meaningless . Almost like our game against Maryland tomorrow
Not entirely meaningless. A win would be very helpful - would then only need a draw against Iran.
 
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To summarize:

WIN today - and advance with a win or draw against Iran.

DRAW today - and advance with a win against Iran.

LOSE today - and still advance with a win against Iran - IF Wales does not defeat England. If they do, then goal difference comes into play.

Am I missing anything?
 
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A lot of people in this thread still underestimating Iran. The England game was the outlier, not today’s game with Wales.

They gave up only 8 goals in 18 games in qualifying. Knowing they only need a tie while the US needs a win, they will be very hard to break down and will give the US little space in their end.
 
Rob Stone just revealed the Fox spin on today's game. "US needs to win at least one of its remaining two games to have any hope of advancing. Their first opportunity comes today."
 
Qatar got hosed in the first half as Afif should've earned a PK...and then the Qatar defender made a horrible error in the box to give away a goal to Senegal.

And Senegal just made it 2-0 on a gorgeous header off of a corner...
 
A lot of people in this thread still underestimating Iran. The England game was the outlier, not today’s game with Wales.

They gave up only 8 goals in 18 games in qualifying. Knowing they only need a tie while the US needs a win, they will be very hard to break down and will give the US little space in their end.
Nobody is “underestimating” them. All everyone is saying is WE CONTROL OUR DESTINY, so, if we lose or tie today, BEAT IRAN and we go through. That’s it.
 
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Nobody is “underestimating” them. All everyone is saying is WE CONTROL OUR DESTINY, so, if we lose it tie today, BEAT IRAN and we go through. That’s it.
Not exactly. Wales can beat England and have a better goal differential than us if we beat Iran and Wales would then go through. Unlikely, for sure, but possible.
 
Wonderful goal by Qatar. They're not out of it and if not for Mendy's sensational save earlier and the non-called PK, this could be a very different game.
 
Not exactly. Wales can beat England and have a better goal differential than us if we beat Iran and Wales would then go through. Unlikely, for sure, but possible.
…and we can beat England as well. Pretty sure we’re all talking about the most likely scenarios here and I’m sure you knew that. Obviously there are other possibilities how this plays out.
 
90% of people watching don’t even understand how the group stage works. Game this morning won’t matter to viewership

Exactly.
This also has big "Navy could go winless but as long as they beat Army in the end" vibes.

Casual viewership will mostly be based on the name "England" and not anything to do with moving on.
 
A lot of people in this thread still underestimating Iran. The England game was the outlier, not today’s game with Wales.

They gave up only 8 goals in 18 games in qualifying. Knowing they only need a tie while the US needs a win, they will be very hard to break down and will give the US little space in their end.
Yup.

I don't know the Iranian team in detail, so I can't comment knowledgably about how well the US might match up with them. But they've been playing well for the most part, and as you point out have been somewhat stingy at giving up goals. And the US hasn't been a goal scoring machine. So at least using that shallow comparison point, they may match up well with us and it could be a close and hard fought game.

OTOH, I still believe Wales is not a great team and that the US didn't play anywhere near it's capability in game one. I still believe that the US best chance to advance is to play loose and creatively, pretty much the opposite of the entire Wales game.

Despite some thinking it's coaching, I think it's entirely about the players. It wasn't the coach out on the field having piss-poor first touches, sluggish movement away from the ball, less than precise passing, and a near-absolute lack of combination play.

This group of US players can play much, much better - we saw it in the qualifiers. They're young and this is a huge stage so remaining composed will be difficult. Composure is always important in soccer, but it's more important than ever both today and on Monday.

Lots of pressure, young and talented team. I'm looking forward to seeing how they do.
 
Nobody is “underestimating” them. All everyone is saying is WE CONTROL OUR DESTINY, so, if we lose or tie today, BEAT IRAN and we go through. That’s it.
Maybe you weren't, but several others in this thread were underestimating them. At least based on what they posted. Lots of dismissive comments implying Iran was the weakest team in the group.
 
Maybe you weren't, but several others in this thread were underestimating them. At least based on what they posted. Lots of dismissive comments implying Iran was the weakest team in the group.
Well…coming in they kinda were…but that doesn’t mean much in the end.
 
Don't know if it is official but saw on Twitter one change from Wales is Wright at CF? Surprising if true
I saw some predictions to that effect. Will be interesting to see who comes out on the field.

Reyna‘s health is a big question. He says he’s fine, but the fact he didn’t play in game one strongly implies otherwise. So even is he starts, how long can he go and how effective can he be?

I think he’s a big factor so I hope he proves to be as fit as he feels he is.
 
Listening to the pregame coverage and I want to shoot my TV listening to that drama-queen Lalas. Nails on a chalkboard combined with an aural acid bath.
 
No Reyna in the announced starting lineup. That tells me the coaching/medical staff do not have complete confidence in his being 100% right now. Might be fine in terms of injury but not yet fully fit.

Interesting.
 
No Reyna in the announced starting lineup. That tells me the coaching/medical staff do not have complete confidence in his being 100% right now. Might be fine in terms of injury but not yet fully fit.

Interesting.
I'm a bit surprised by this. I thought Sargent being selected was largely due to his familiarity with the physicality of English football. But we sit him now against England not for a false 9 or Ferreira etc, but a straight like for likw for a player that is sort of similar but plays in Turkey. I'm not criticizing just honestly curious the why for Berhalter here.
 
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