USA vs Iran live: World Cup score, highlights, result from 2022 Group B match as Christian Pulisic puts the USA in front, but is injured

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It’s a winner-take-all match in Group B as the USA face Iran with a knockout-round berth on the line. Iran can advance with a win or draw to its first knockout stage in history, while the USA need a win at all costs to go through for the first time since 2014.

The group stage finale has had a tense buildup with geo- and sociopolitical themes rising to the surface. There was an incident involving the U.S. team altering the Iranian flag as a show of support for the protests in Iran, a statement by former USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann that drew the ire of Iran’s coach, and an unusual press conference on the eve of the match. 

These two teams faced off in the World Cup in 1998, also in the final match of the group stage. Iran won 2-1, but neither made it through to the knockouts.

The Americans are unbeaten so far with draws against Wales and England, while Iran suffered a humiliating 6-2 defeat to the Three Lions, only to bounce back and knock off Wales 2-0 to give it the edge in the race for the second knockout berth in the group.

Sporting News is tracking live scoring updates and highlights for USA vs. Iran at the 2022 World Cup. Follow below for complete results from the Group B match in Qatar.

MORE: Best bets for USA vs. Iran

USA vs Iran live score

  1H 2H Final
USA 1 0 —
Iran 0 0 —

Goals:
37th min — USA — Christian Pulisic

Confirmed lineups:

USA (4-3-3, right to left): 1-Turner (GK) — 2-Dest (Moore, 82′), 20-Carter-Vickers, 13-Ream, 5-Robinson — 8-McKennie, 4-Adams, 6-Musah — 21-Weah (Zimmerman, 82′), 24-Sargent (Wright, 77′), 10-Pulisic (Aaronson, 46′).

Iran (4-4-2, right to left): 1-Beiranvand (GK) — 23-Rezaeian, 19-Hosseini, 8-Pouraliganji, 5-Mohammadi (Karimi, 45′) — 17-Gholizadeh, 21-Nourollahi (Torabi, 71′), 6-Ezatolahi, 3-Safi (Jalali, 71′) — 20-Azmoun (Ghoddos, 46′), 9-Taremi.

MORE: Watch every World Cup match live with fuboTV (U.S.-only free trial)

LIVE Group B standings, scores

Team PTS GP W L D GF GA GD
1. England 7 3 2 0 1 9 2 +7
2. USA 5 3 1 0 2 2 1 +1
3. Iran 3 3 1 2 0 4 7 -3
4. Wales 2 3 0 1 2 1 3 -2

LIVE SCORE: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England 3 (Rashford 50′, 68′; Foden 52′) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales 0

USA vs Iran live updates, highlights from 2022 World Cup

82nd min: YIKES! The ball pops high into the air right on the goal mouth, and Turner has it after what seems like forever. Iran players are calling for a handball, but replays show there’s nothing there. A yellow card is shown to a player on Iran’s bench.

80th min: The game has devolved into a very physical battle. Josh Sargent has tears in his eyes as he comes off the field, which is terrible to see. More subs are being readied for the USMNT, with Walker Zimmerman and Shaq Moore about to come on for Weah and Dest. Berhalter is going to push for a 1-0 result. This is going to be a final 15 minutes that feels like an hour.

74th min: Josh Sargent is down after landing on the ball awkwardly, holding his ankle. He receives lengthy treatment and limps off the field. Looks like he’ll have to be replaced, as Haji Wright will come on. Hosseini gets a yellow for a clearly late tackle on Aaronson.

70th min: Iran’s Ezatolahi takes aim from distance but fires wide. It’s squeaky bum time for the U.S. as Iran begins to build pressure with time running out.

There’s a pair of subs, as Mehdi Torabi and Abolfazl Jalali both come on to replace Haji Safi and Nourollahi.

68th min: The United States has an opportunity on the set-piece, from a central area atop the box as Brenden Aaronson is fouled. They have their best free-kick taker in Kellyn Acosta on the field, but it’s Yunus Musah who calls him off, and he fires it over. In fairness, it was very tight to the 18-yard box from a central area, which is one of the toughest spots to get on goal.

65th min: Chance, Iran! THE GAME SHOULD BE LEVEL, BUT GHODDOS MISSES! It’s a defensive calamity for the U.S. as a few unlucky bobbles fall to white jerseys, and Ghoddos has a window to take aim at the top-right corner, but misses wide. Not enough curl. That’s a huge letoff for the U.S.

Watch in the USA:

Acosta now comes on for the United States, with McKennie off. Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford scores again for England, who will win the group.

62nd min: Neither side has threatened on goal in the past 5-10 minutes, with both sides looking for openings. Tim Ream makes an important clearance after Iran had countered down the right.

Gregg Berhalter is readying Kellyn Acosta to come in off the bench, probably for McKennie who looks spent. Meanwhile, Ramin Rezaeian goes down screaming in pain, but then pops up after the referee calls his bluff. His reaction made it look a nasty one, but it’s all a bluff.

55th min: Mehdi Taremi nearly gets past Carter-Vickers along the end line, but the ball ends up in Matt Turner’s arms. Carter-Vickers had initially walled Taremi off, and did well to get good positioning, but then just…stopped, allowing Taremi to worm his way back onto the ball, but it was just too late.

52nd min: Chance, USA! Sergino Dest nearly gets onto one in front of goal, but his header goes over! Great defending from substitute Saman Ghoddos, who came on at halftime for Sardar Azmoun.

48th min: Josh Sargent has a good hit from a tight angle, but Beiranvand has the space covered and the shot is right into his belly.

Watch in the USA:

The FOX broadcast gives an update on Pulisic, who has an abdominal injury. Not surprising watching the knee of Beiranvand go right into his gut on the goal.

47th min: Both teams have a half-chance early in the half, but it’s cut out on both ends.

In the other match, England has gone in front on a Marcus Rashford goal just after halftime, then minutes later Phil Foden added a second.. They’re almost surely through to the top of the group. Gareth Bale went off at halftime for Wales.

46th min: There’s one change for the United States, and it’s not the one you want to hear if you’re a U.S. fan. Christian Pulisic is coming off, replaced by Brenden Aaronson as the second half gets set to start.

Pulisic made his impact, and now it’s everyone else’s turn to stand tall.

HALFTIME: USA 1-0 Iran

This game is far from over, but the United States have grabbed the all-important breakthrough and look the better side through the opening 45 minutes. The goal from Pulisic is a watershed moment, as the U.S. attacker put his body on the line to score a career-defining goal.

Still, the U.S. have to maintain the lead and maybe even grab another. The U.S. has been better in the first half under Gregg Berhalter, but worse after the break. This will be a big test for this young USA team.

For Iran, they were well beaten in that first half, and will need changes to make the most of their few attacking moves. There’s sure to be plenty of pressure from them as the game moves on if they don’t find an equalizer.

USA vs. Iran: First half

45+6 min: USA GOAL DISALLOWED! Tim Weah has the ball in the back of the net, but he’s offside! It’s EXTREMELY tight, as the through-ball from midfield was spectacular. The replay shows he was just inches offside, it’s so so tight, but play is waved on meaning the technology confirmed the decision.

Watch in the USA:

Watch in Canada:

45+3 min: Iran have been forced into a change, as left-back Milad Mohammadi has to come off after stretching for a ball and clearly pulling something. He’s replaced by Ali Karimi.

45th min: Chance, USA! They blew a two-on-two! Sprung by Adams, it’s Sargent and Weah who are free with just two defenders, but they can’t open up space and the final pass from Weah is cut out. It’s spectacular defending from Iran on the break.

43rd min: Still down a man, Tyler Adams draws a yellow card for barging over Haji Safi to stop a counter. It’s his first of the tournament.

Pulisic returns, to huge applause. It’s a massive moment for the U.S. leader who is going to gut this out as best he can.

40th min: Pulisic is still down inside the net. It’s a massive concern for the U.S. who can ill afford to lose a player of Pulisic’s caliber. Play restarts momentarily with the U.S. down to 10 men. Gregg Berhalter has a HUGE decision to make. Pulisic is struggling to walk behind the goal, being helped by the team doctor. He’s doing everything he can to recover and come back on. Gregg Berhalter telling his team to slow as Pulisic jogs back to the fourth official.

38th min: GOAL! USA! THEY HAVE THE BREAKTHROUGH! It’s a stunning switch from McKennie to Dest on the right, and his cross finds a streaking Pulisic on the doorstep for the finish.

Pulisic is hurt, as he doesn’t get to celebrate his incredible moment. Looks like he took a knee from the goalkeeper right to the midsection. It’s a shame, because this is a career-defining moment from the U.S. star.

Watch in the USA:

Watch in Canada:

37th min: Pulisic under hits the second USA corner of the match. He has been frankly awful taking corners for years now. He did quite well against England to provide some hope, but it’s back to him being terrible. He struggles to beat the first man, driving the ball straight without enough height.

33rd min: Chance, USA! Weah misses again! He’s got a great chance from inside the top of the penalty area, but rifles the chance high! He had nobody to close him down, and should have produced a better effort. The U.S. is piling on the pressure but has nothing to show for it just yet.

Watch in the USA:

31st min: Carter-Vickers blocks off Nourollahi to allow Turner to collect a through ball, and the Iranian midfielder is down receiving treatment. Meanwhile, Gregg Berhalter is in the ear of the fourth official to likely discuss time wasting, which Iran will be doing all game, understandably so.

30th min: A long sustained set of pressure from the U.S. has resulted in a few chances. The latest is from Sergino Dest who created it for himself by driving in past defenders from the right flank to the top of the penalty area. His effort is from a good position but it’s blocked by a defender.

27th min: Chance, USA! OH TIM WEAH, you have to score there! A shot from Sargent pops straight into the air, and falls right to Weah with just him and the goalkeeper to beat. He had time to settle, but heads it right at Beiranvand. A massive chance missed.

Watch in the USA:

23rd min: Christian Pulisic is so unlucky, as he’s in a great position to receive a cutback from Musah, but the ball is fizzed harder than he expected and it hits him square in the face. Ouch.

20th min: EXCELLENT step by Tim Ream to stop a promising Iran attack. If he hadn’t got there, Azmoun was in on goal. The elder statesman from Fulham hasn’t put a foot wrong all tournament.

Watch in the USA:

17th min: Chance, USA! Brilliant ball by Dest into the box to finish a set of U.S. pressure nearly finds a mark, but nobody can get to meet it! Somehow, the ball squirts by both Pulisic and Sargent.

11th min: Pulisic gets his head on a Musah cross, but his leap was off-balance and it produces a weak effort that’s right at the goalkeeper Beiranvand.

Adams has words with Cameron Carter-Vickers, who was inserted into the lineup for today’s match. The instruction seemed to be for CCV to step higher and not allow a ball to reach the striker. Moments later, he does just that.

9th min: Chance, USA! On an initial cross into the penalty area, Beiranvand produces a punch, which pops high in the air. The bobbling ball eventually ends up to Yunus Musah at the top of the penalty area, but he rushes his shot and blasts it miles high.

Watch in the USA:

8th min: Excellent start to this game for Tyler Adams, who first is seen on the ball out wide left in an attacking possession before tracking way back and stopping an Iran break. He’s so incredibly important to this U.S. side.

5th min: Nervy moments for the U.S. defense as Iran have a great possession that breaks into the penalty area, but a number of deliveries don’t reach their target. Iran very lively to start the match, with the U.S. on its heels.

2nd min: Christian Pulisic has an excellent early chance on the counter, two-on-one with Sargent in support, but instead of squaring to Sargent he stays on the ball charging forward and is dispossessed by Majid Hosseini from behind. It’s a great tackle, but Pulisic has to pass that ball.

Watch in the USA:

1st min: Iran already have a free-kick on the right flank, and the delivery’s good, but it’s turned away by an Adams header. Asian side holding the early possession.

KICKOFF! We’re under way! Reminder: USA must win, and Iran needs a win or draw. That’s it, no other tiebreakers to concern yourselves with!

USA vs. Iran: Pre-match commentary, analysis, lineups, and stats

7 mins to kickoff: The U.S. has gone winless in five straight matches. The national team hasn’t gone six straight without a win since the 90’s. They have to win today to advance, there’s no other way to move on. Let’s get this game on!

15 mins to kickoff: As kickoff nears, there’s one player the U.S. will need to be careful of when Iran has the ball, and that’s 30-year-old Porto striker Mehdi Taremi. He’s in spectacular form for club and country, with 15 goals in 21 appearances for Porto this year across all competitions, and he leads the World Cup in chances created from open play so far.

22 mins to kickoff: Fascinatingly, the United States has named just its second starting lineup ever in a competitive match without a single MLS player, and first in a World Cup, since the current iteration of the league began in 1996. Walker Zimmerman had been holding down the fort, but now, all 11 players starting for the U.S. are European-based.

It kind of makes sense, with MLS having been off since the league ended a month ago, and European players are just in better form and fitness to handle the rigors of this tournament. And, more simplistically, they’re just the best choices at this point.

35 mins to kickoff: All eyes will be on Christian Pulisic today for the United States. While he’s established himself as the most important attacking player for the USMNT, he has yet to have a massive moment in a U.S. shirt — at least not to the level of a goal & good performance today would be rated.

Pulisic is suffering through the worst international goal drought of his career, without a successful strike in seven straight appearances, totaling 585 minutes for the national team. One today would be easily the biggest of his young career, still just 23 years old.

50 mins to kickoff: While plenty of fans have been asking questions of the selection in the USMNT attack, there’s been little attention payed to the defensive side of things. Yet today Walker Zimmerman is replaced by Cameron Carter-Vickers.

Bringing on a defender who hasn’t played in either of the first two matches is risky from a form perspective, but it’s hard to argue Zimmerman has played well enough to keep his place, and the change appears warranted. Zimmerman was the one to give away the costly penalty vs. Wales and then looked shaky on the ball against England. Carter-Vickers has been solid for Celtic this season in Scotland.

One thing to note: Tim Ream and Cameron Carter-Vickers have never played together in a match for the national team.

1 hr 10 mins from kickoff: Lineups are in. For the United States, fans hoping that Gio Reyna would start will be disappointed, as there are only two changes to be made, and he’s not one of them. Instead, it’s Josh Sargent in at striker, with Jesus Ferreira still left on the bench. Additionally, Walker Zimmerman has come out of his defensive role after two mediocre performances, replaced by the big Cameron Carter-Vickers.

For Iran, the only change is in goal where Alireza Beiranvand returns after his awful collision in the opener against England left him with a concussion. It’s quite the turnaround for him, and a big boost for Iran who are better with him in goal, especially thanks to his incredible distribution.

1 hr 25 mins from kickoff: The site of today’s match is Al Thumama Stadium, whose seats…are colored the same as Iran’s flag! Is that a bad sign for the USMNT?

1 hr 45 mins from kickoff: With the full-time results in the early matches today from Group A, the possible opponents for USA or Iran are set. The Netherlands win Group A, while Senegal finish second and advance. Ecuador and hosts Qatar are eliminated.

For the United States, win and England win/draw vs. Wales means they take on the Netherlands in the Round of 16, while a win plus an England loss to Wales means they top the group and take on Senegal. For Iran, a win and England win means they take on the Netherlands, while a win and England draw/loss means they take on Senegal. A draw would mean Iran can only top the group and face Senegal if England lose to Wales by seven or more goals, which isn’t happening.

Both teams need to take care of business today first before even giving that any thought.

2 hrs from kickoff: LOVE a good crisp, clean locker room photo. The U.S. are wearing their dark blue kits for this match, with the goalkeepers in bright yellow. Lineups will be released for sure in an hour, although the U.S. have been releasing theirs about 15 minutes early in previous World Cup games.

2 hrs 23 mins from kickoff: Yesterday, the U.S. national team posted an inside look into their World Cup camp as they prepare for the do-or-die match against Iran. Give it a watch!

2 hrs 42 mins from kickoff: Gregg Berhalter made it clear to his players what he wants them to play for today. Obviously, playing for your country is a given, so he focused more on personal legacy. This match is a defining moment for any player’s career, and players will want to tell the story of this match in a positive manner decades from now.

3 hrs from kickoff: If U.S. fans are looking for some good vibes ahead of this World Cup, how about giving a watch to the highlights from the 1-0 victory over Algeria in the 2010 World Cup? The U.S. faced a similar situation, against a similar opponent, requiring victory to advance. They left it very late, but Landon Donovan delivered one of the most iconic goals in U.S. history in the 91st minute to send the U.S. into the knockout stage.

FIFA doesn’t allow embedding of their videos, but you can watch the highlights here.

3 hrs 16 mins from kickoff: In what was an utterly extraordinary pre-match press conference, USMNT captain Tyler Adams proved yesterday why he was picked to lead the team on the field. His response to an aggressive question from an Iranian journalist was top drawer.

From a football perspective, Adams will be a critical player for the U.S. today. He’ll have to start possessional buildups, and more importantly, he will be key to shielding the back line when Iran try to muck up the game or hit on the counter.

3 hrs 30 mins from kickoff: USA fans have been flooding the betting market to back their team!

3 hrs 52 mins from kickoff: After the draw with England, former national team player and current media pundit Eric Wynalda went on a Twitter Spaces with the LA Times and made claims that there was a rift between Gregg Berhalter and Gio Reyna caused by the young Dortmund star’s lack of playing time thus far. He also claimed, somewhat inflammatory, that Berhalter lied about Reyna’s fitness when explaining his absence to the media, and that he asked Reyna to go along with the lie.

Wynalda went on SiriusXM radio to clarify his comments earlier this morning. While Wynalda seemingly didn’t walk almost any of the information he gave back, he did clarify that Berhalter did not specifically ask Reyna to go along with the lie, but expected him to do so. Wynalda did apologize to Berhalter for going public with his comments, saying he should have kept them to himself.

Most interesting to me, Wynalda did say that he believes the conversation between Berhalter and Reyna resulted in an understanding that he will “see the field more.” Which, given that this is their last group match, seems to suggest that Reyna will start.

4 hrs 17 mins from kickoff: Monitoring line movement from BetMGM on this one…Vegas seems to be leaning towards a draw, which as you’ll know by now is obviously not good news for the United States. Both the U.S. and Iran moneylines have closed in towards the draw figure, with the U.S. moving from -110 to +100 and Iran moving from +310 to +290. Those numbers are slight, but they’re still meaningful.

The more aggressive movement has come on the game flow prediction, with the under 2.5 goal total sliding from -150 all the way to -185. Under 1.5 goals has moved from +205 to +160. One goal is expected to win this game.

4 hrs 45 mins from kickoff: This CNN report is the reality that the Iranian players have to endure. The same tactic was reportedly employed when the two teams met in the 1998 World Cup.

USA vs Iran lineups, team news

USA Starting XI World Cup vs. Iran 112922

The questions around the USA heading into the final group match awerere less to do with injuries and more about personnel decisions: Does Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reyna start? If not, how many minutes does he get? After Josh Sargent (vs. Wales) and Haji Wright (vs. England), is it now Jesus Ferreira’s turn in the tight spaces against Iran?

Both those questions were answered with a “no” as Gregg Berhalter stuck with Tim Weah on the right flank, while Sargent comes back into the lineup. 

Berhalter instead makes a change at the back, with Walker Zimmerman out of his center-back role, replaced by Cameron Carter-Vickers.

USA (4-3-3, right to left): 1-Matt Turner (GK) — 2-Sergino Dest, 20. Cameron Carter-Vickers, 13-Tim Ream, 5-Antonee Robinson — 8-Weston McKennie, 4-Tyler Adams, 6-Yunus Musah — 21-Tim Weah, 24-Josh Sargent, 10-Christian Pulisic.

Iran Starting XI World Cup vs. USA 112922

Feyenoord winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh is suspended due to yellow-card accumulation and won’t play the match for Iran. Carlos Queiroz had indicated that goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand was held out of the Wales victory due to concussion protocol but that he will be available vs. USA, and that came true as he re-enters the starting lineup.

There have been injury concerns around Bayer Leverkusen forward Sardar Azmoun, but it was hard to see him missing out on starting what could be a historic match for his country, and indeed he’s in the lineup.

Iran (4-4-2, right to left): 1-Alireza Beiranvand (GK) — 23-Ramin Rezaeian, 19-Majid Hosseini, 8-Morteza Pouraliganji, 5-Milad Mohammadi — 17-Ali Gholizadeh, 21-Ahmad Nourollahi, 6-Saeid Ezatolahi, 3-Ehsan Hajsafi — 20-Sardar Azmoun, 9-Mehdi Taremi.

MORE: Complete World Cup Round of 16 details

USA vs Iran live stream, TV channel

This final Group B match will be played at the Al Thumama Stadium. Here’s how you can watch all the action in some of the major global territories.

  Date Time TV Channel Streaming
USA Tue, Nov. 29 14:00 ET Fox,
Telemundo		 fuboTV,
Fox Sports site/app,
Telemundo Deportes site/app,
Peacock
Canada Tue, Nov. 29 14:00 ET TSN 2, RDS (French) TSN site/app,
RDS app
UK Tue, Nov. 29 19:00 GMT BBC Two BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website
Australia Wed, Nov. 30 06:00 AEDT SBS VICELAND SBS On Demand
India Wed, Nov. 30 00:30 IST — Voot, JioTV
Hong Kong Wed, Nov. 30 03:00 HKT Now TV (Ch. 619, 617) Now TV
Malaysia Wed, Nov. 30 03:00 MYT Astro Arena 2 Astro GO
Singapore Wed, Nov. 30 03:00 SGT StarHub TV
FIFA World Cup 2		 Singtel TV GO, CAST,
StarHub TV+, MeWatch
New Zealand Wed, Nov. 30 08:00 NZDT Sky Sport 1 NZ Sky Go, Sky Sport NOW

Watch the match on fuboTV in USA:

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