Pulisic goal seals USA knockout berth as Iran's World Cup march ends 

WARRIOR: Tim Ream of the United States celebrates. Pic: AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan

Iran 0 USA 1 

They only fell silent when the dream died. If matches were won in the stands, then Iran would still be standing and their emotional rollercoaster would be careening on in Qatar. 

But matches are won on the pitch and Iran didn’t have nearly enough there to survive.

Gregg Berhalter’s young Americans, maturing and impressing just that little bit more each time, march on instead. Twenty-four years after their last World Cup meeting — a more fraught affair in so many ways — went against the US, this was revenge too, Carlos Queiroz and his players taking their leave to roars of 'U-S-A', the only time all night Americans had an aural advantage.

After all of the political preamble and emotional energy expended getting here — to the final group game in a healthy position to progress to the knockout stages for the first time in their history, this was an opportunity not missed but thrown away. Iran never got going when they needed to and when they eventually did, the Americans dropped in and held them off as impressively as they had picked them off earlier.

Iran never mustered a shot on target and were sent home on the back of Christian Pulisic’s brave 38th minute winner. The young American captain Tyler Adams was again stellar as were a few of those around him. They did enough to win by more but one was enough. They have the pace and the energy to trouble the fitful Dutch. They also have a bit of defensive defiance about them too, not conceding from open play through the entire group. A repeat of their best ever showing — a quarter-final in 2002 — appears very possible now. First they’ll have to get the ringing out of their ears.

For the first 15 minutes, the noise inside this place was utterly deafening. We’re not sure we’ve ever heard louder. The high-pitched wail of horns, the roll of drums and smack of clapping hands combined with a deep, guttural roar of ‘Iran!’ and rose up through the bowl to crash against the roof and boom back down into it. Al Thumama was an echo chamber of Iranian emotion.

But on the field, those in white weren’t matching the energy. This young US midfield was all-action from the jump and swarmed into supremacy. Adams was the starting point, setting Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah, celebrating his 20th birthday here, on their way. Outside them, Antonee Robinson and Segino Dest were already bombing on and past Iran. Musah flashed over the bar after nine minutes then sent one across for Pulisic to head tamely at the returning Alireza Beiranvand.

Iran knew a draw would be enough to progress but as the game reached its quarter-way point, it was clear they wouldn’t get there like this.

Queiroz, you’d assume, could see what we all could see — that the American full backs were absolutely feasting on his midfield and defence. That they were getting in and around any and every time they fancied. Yet he did nothing about it. There appeared to be no effort to disrupt the supply line, to bring a little help or an extra body across the backline.

When the punishment came, it was all but inevitable that one of the full backs would have a decisive say. On 38 minutes the inevitable occurred. McKennie had much too much time in midfield to assess his option, spotted left back Milad Mohammadi too high up and chipped a beautiful floating pearler of a ball, with just a little bit of spin on it, intro green space. Sergino Dest had just enough time to think about it and made the right choice cushioning his header back across goal where Pulisic came steaming in. It was bundled in but he was in a heap too.

Replays showed the Chelsea attacker took Alireza Beiranvand’s knee to the nether regions at full speed with his head colliding with the keeper’s chest. Pulisic’s bravery had reaped reward but at a significant cost. While he briefly returned to a huge ovation, he’d be gone before the start of the second-half.

Before the interval, McKennie sent another beauty in behind and Tim Weah finished superbly past Beiranvand only to see the flag raised. He was off by the tip of his kneecap and a great chance for the Americans to find comfort had passed.

Brentford’s Saman Ghoddos came on as Queiroz sought some kind of a response, looked for a tide-turner. They would have the better of the next half hour but couldn’t test Matt Turner. On 52 minutes, Ramin Rezaeian got in behind Robinson, terrible in the second half, and sent a lovely ball in across goal that Ghoddos tried to get his head to but Dest did just enough to put him off.

Fourteen minutes later he had Iran’s best chance so far. Another ball from the left, this time from Ali Gholizadeh, missed every US defender and when the substitute wrapped his right foot around it, it looked certain to nestle in the corner, the net waiting for Ghoddos. It whistled wide.

They never found Turner’s target, Morteza Pouraliganji sending one last header wide in injury time as the game finished with Iranian players pleading for penalties that weren’t there.

They return home now to an unknown fate. Their stand in not singing the anthem on their first appearance, and the emotional response from those in the stands, will linger long as a memory. But they’ll think they could have made more.

Iran (4-3-3): Beiranvand 6; Rezaeian 7, Majid Hosseini 6, Pouraliganji 6, Mohammadi 5 (Karimi 45, 6); Noorollahi 5 (Torabi 71), Ezatolahi 6, Hajsafi 6 (Borani 71); Gholizadeh 5 (Karim Ansarifard 77), Azmoun 5 (Ghodods HT 6), Taremi 5.

Booked: Jalali, Kanani.

USA (4-3-3): Turner 7; Dest 7 (Zimmerman 81), Carter-Vickers 7, Ream 8, Robinson 6; McKennie 7 (Acosta 65), Adams 8, Musah 8; Weah 7 (Moore 81), Sargent 7(Wright 77), Pulisic 7 (Aaronson HT, 6).

Booked: Adams 

Referee: Antonio Mateu (Spain) 7