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.