FIFA Men's World Cup

USA's run continues after thrilling 1-0 win over Iran: Three takeaways

Updated Nov. 29, 2022 10:50 p.m. ET

DOHA, Qatar — The United States' World Cup dreams are still alive.

The U.S. got the win it needed over Iran in Tuesday's Group B finale at Al Thumama Stadium, with Christian Pulisic's goal toward the end of an otherwise frustrating first half enough for the Americans to claim a 1-0 victory.

With the three points secured, the young Americans leapfrogged Team Melli in the four-team group standings and advanced to the knockout stage at Qatar 2022.

Gregg Berhalter's team will take on the Netherlands, which won Group A earlier in the day, on Saturday (10 a.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App) in the round of 16.

Iran-United States full highlights

The United States held on for a 1-0 victory, marking three straight trips to the knockout stage in their last three World Cup appearances.

Here are three quick thoughts on Tuesday's match.

1. Who else but Christian Pulisic?

A perfect pass by Pulisic set up Tim Weah's goal in the tournament-opening 1-1 tie with Wales in the Americans' opener. Pulisic was named player of the match for the U.S. in the thrilling scoreless draw (seriously) against England. But there was still a sense that the national team's most well-known, most accomplished and most dangerous attacking player had a lot left to give a team that struggled mightily to create legitimate scoring chances and on-target shots through their first two contests.

Christian Pulisic puts the U.S. in front!

Christian Pulisic steers home a goal in the 38th minute and collides with the Iranian goalkeeper afterward. Pulisic would leave the match with an abdominal injury.

Through most of the first half, it was more of the same. With the Iranians — who needed only a point to hold onto second place in the group behind England — content to keep 10 players behind the ball, the Americans had almost all the possession with almost nothing to show for it.

Once again, they were too slow to take advantage when they had brief openings to unbalance the packed-in Iranian defense. Once again, on those rare moments when they did play quickly, the final pass or shot was consistently off-target.

As halftime approached, it looked like it might be one of those nights when the goal the U.S. needed just wouldn't come. Then one play changed everything.

Weston McKennie, who was at the center of everything for the U.S. for the third game in a row, played a gorgeous looping pass over Iran's back line to a streaking Sergiño Dest. Dest calmly headed the ball across the face of goal on an onrushing Pulisic, who beat his man and steered it home.

Pulisic paid the price, clattering into Team Melli keeper Alireza Beiranvand. He was substituted before the second half with what U.S. Soccer called an abdominal injury. Pulisic's status against the Dutch wasn't immediately clear.

Gregg Berhalter talks about advancing

Gregg Berhalter discusses the 1-0 victory over Iran that sent the United States to the knockout round against the Netherlands.

No matter. Five years after a teenage Pulisic was unable to single-footedly qualify his coutry for the 2018 World Cup, there he was on the biggest stage when his team needed him most.

Like Tim Howard in 2014 or Landon Donovan four years earlier, this was his moment to become a transcendent, mainstream figure back home. He's a World Cup hero now.

2. Mission accomplished for the U.S. …

Berhalter somewhat grudgingly admitted on the eve of the match that, fair or not, he and his team would be judged by the outcome Tuesday. It was binary. Lose or even tie, and the entire four-year cycle would be seen as a failure. Win, and the Americans could consider it a success, returning to the business end of the World Cup for the third time in as many tournaments as they'd participated it. There was no in-between.

"We're brothers, and we love the pressure"

Weston McKennie talks about the young Americans advancing from their group.

After methodically rebuilding the men's national team from the ground up following the lowest moment in program history, a new generation of American players — many of them not just employed by but actually making important contributions for some of Europe's leading clubs — was ready to show a skeptical nation that they could hang with anyone on the World Cup stage.

Getting eliminated in the group stage by Iran would have torpedoed that effort. With the United States (along with Canada and Mexico) hosting the 2026 event, getting to the second round and building some belief and momentum was the bare minimum.

With the margins between advancing and being eliminated razor-thin at any World Cup, the U.S. was lucky that the two points they squandered by conceding a late penalty kick to the Welsh didn't come back to haunt them. The match against Iran could've gone the other way, too, but the U.S. survived Team Melli's furious late push and made Pulisic's strike stand up.

They did it the hard way, but they did it. That's all that matters in the end.

Iran comes so close

U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner made a save in stoppage time to preserve the victory against Iran.

3. … But plenty of room to improve

Most of the pressure might be off the Americans now, but they will have to be better — much better — to have any hope of beating the Oranje in front of what promises to be a massive eight-figure television audience stateside.

As much as Berhalter's team will be playing with house money against a Netherlands team that looked surprisingly vulnerable at times throughout the first round, the U.S. will stand little chance of moving on to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002 unless it can be sharper in the attack. That's really the key for a squad that has been tremendous defensively so far, but also got bailed out by the men at the back.

"It's us against the world"

Tim Weah discusses the USMNT's mindset about advancing to Round 16, teammate Christian Pulisic and winning against Iran.

The Americans made life hard on themselves against Iran because they couldn't get the all-important second goal. They let Team Melli hang around all the way to the end, and if not for some poor finishing by the Iranians, they might not have advanced at all.

That's a problem for another day — namely Saturday. The U.S. is off to the knockout stage now.

It's a new tournament, one where anything can happen.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.

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