USMNT advances to knockout stage of World Cup with 1-0 win over Iran
BOSTON -- The United States is moving on to the knockout stage of the World Cup. The USMNT picked up its first win of the tournament on Tuesday, scoring a 1-0 victory over Iran to close out the group stage.
The U.S. needed a win to advance, and took a 1-0 lead in the first half when Christian Pulisic sent home a header from Sergino Dest in the 38th minute. Pulisic really put it all out there for his country, as the midfielder took a pretty big blow to a rather sensitive area of his midsection from colliding with Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand as he scored.
Though he was down for a few minutes and had to walk off the injury, Pulisic was back on the pitch a short time later. He did not return in the second half though, sitting out with an abdominal injury.
The U.S. did not concede a single shot in the first half -- the first time that has happened in a World Cup match since 1966 -- and took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
But it was a tense close to the game as the U.S. hung on to its 1-0 lead, especially when it was announced that there were nine minutes of extra time after regulation. Iran had a great chance to tie things in the third minute of extra time, but Morteza Pouraliganji's header went wide left.
It got extremely hairy in the eighth minute of extra time when a Mehdi Taremi attempt snuck by U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner. But Walker Zimmerman was in a perfect position to save the day and booted the ball out of the zone.
Turner didn't have to do much throughout the match, as Iran had just six attempts at goal -- only one of which was on target. Turner was not credited with any saves in the victory.
The USMNT finished its Group B slate at 1-0-2, playing to a 1-1 draw against Wales and a 0-0 draw against England. Now it's on to the Round of 16 for the first time since 2014.
The USMNT will now play Group A winner the Netherlands on Saturday morning. The US is looking to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002.
