United States coach Gregg Berhalter has made two changes for Tuesday’s decisive World Cup Group B match against Iran in Qatar.
After being replaced by Haji Wright for Friday’s 0-0 draw with England, Josh Sargent returns to the lineup to lead the attack, while there is a first World Cup start for Cameron Carter-Vickers. The Celtic defender starts in place of Walker Zimmerman, who began the USMNT’s first two games of the competition.
– Carlisle, Bonagura: Oral history of US loss to Iran in 1998
– World Cup 2022: How every team can reach round of 16
The US starting lineup is the youngest of any team at the World Cup so far, with an average age of 24 years, 321 days.
With the US on two points in the group and Iran on three following a Friday win over Wales, only a victory for Berhalter’s side will get them to the round of 16 in their first World Cup since 2014.
The buildup to the game has been marked by off-the-field news, including US Soccer’s decision to scrub the Islamic Republic symbol from Iran’s flag in a prematch tweet on Sunday. US Soccer later restored the image of Iran’s flag in its entirety on social media, but not before drawing the ire of the country’s government and its federation.
Iran’s government reacted by accusing US Soccer of removing the name of God from their national flag, and the Iranian football federation said their country will lodge a complaint with FIFA over the scrubbing of the Islamic Republic emblem.
Berhalter was adamant in a Monday news conference that none of the coaching staff or players were aware of the treatment of Iran’s flag on social media by US Soccer.
Now the attention returns to the field, where Berhalter has again elected to begin with attackers Brenden Aaronson and Gio Reyna on the bench.