England vs USA – Live World Cup 2022 updates

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It’s time to put the “special relationship” aside as England and the United States meet in the World Cup at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar.

The United States opened the tournament with a 1-1 draw against Wales, while England had a resounding 6-2 victory over Iran on Monday.

The opening draw significantly hurts the Americans’ chances of reaching the knockout round. According to FiveThirtyEight’s Soccer Power Index, the USMNT have only a 45% chance of advancing after the draw.

England are in better shape. Since 1998, teams that win their opener have an 84% chance to reach the next round.

Here are the biggest plays and top moments from Friday’s action:

Second half

73rd minute: This game is less exciting than a prestige drama on a new streaming service. Seriously, are both teams content with sharing the spoils? Have they worked out some weird détente?

Pulisic has had a couple of harmless shots, England have survived a couple of US corners, Saka fired in a tantalizing low cross that didn’t find a teammate for a scoring opportunity and England have made some subs.

ON FOR ENGLAND: Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish

OFF FOR ENGLAND: Jude Bellingham, Raheem Sterling

Henderson offers a bit more discipline and structure in midfield than the end-to-end Bellingham, while Grealish’s status as a bit of a tricky creative player means he’s on the field to try and draw US defenders out of position and create room for Kane & Co. inside the box.

SUBS FOR THE USMNT

  • ON: Brenden Aaronson

  • OFF: Weston McKennie

  • ON: Shaq Moore

  • OFF: Sergino Dest

Aaronson is on to add a bit of pace and hopefully some aggression that’ll unsettle Maguire in the England defense. Moore for Dest is a like-for-like swap, with one right-back replacing another.

England have five total shots, one on goal. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the last team to keep England in single-digit shots in a World Cup game was Costa Rica in 2014, also in a 0-0 draw (8 shots).


56th minute: We’re now firmly into the “chess match” portion of this one as neither side seem especially jazzed about overextending themselves in attack in case it leaves them exposed. England defender John Stones blocks a Haji Wright shot, with McKennie blazing the rebound off-target.

Moments later, Mount fails to fire after almost being surprised by the clever flick from Kane that gave him an opportunity. England aren’t looking good at all and it feels like this game will be decided by whichever team reacts first and makes substitutions or tries something else.

Coach Beard weighs in


First half: England 0, United States 0

Half-time breakdown: Where does one begin? This was a tale of two halves (to steal the cliché) except it was a tale of two halves in the same 45-minute half. After England largely reigned over the opening 20 minutes, albeit creating little, the US had arguably the better chances over the 20 minutes that followed before a great Matt Turner save denied England a lead going in at the break.

Mason Mount, in particular, forced a fantastic stop from Turner after a quick exchange of passes opened up space for Mount to run at the US defense.

It’s clear the US are gaining in confidence as long as this remains scoreless, but if they go on to lose from here, that Pulisic effort when he smacked the crossbar will be the moment every USMNT fan wishes could get a mulligan.

In terms of standout performers? McKennie, Musah, Pulisic and Adams are all playing up to the required level for the US, while England are getting glimpses from Bellingham and also Luke Shaw down the left flank. A note of concern for England fans: Harry Kane has not looked very sharp or lively at all. Will he still be in the game when the teams emerge for the second half?


33rd minute: US ALMOST TAKE THE LEAD! After a fairly soporific opening half-hour in which England appear content to lull their opponents to sleep, Pulisic hammers a shot off the crossbar with England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford seemingly beaten. Again, the chance (and the US have had a few in the past few minutes) came from good work down the right side of midfield, with Musah and McKennie combining.

Here, McKennie’s pass into the middle found Adams, who slid it wide left for Pulisic. His shot beat Pickford but couldn’t get beyond the woodwork. Still 0-0 at Al Bayt Stadium.

McKennie’s epic hair


22nd minute: England are forcing the US into hopelessly chasing possession, which should eventually cause some gaps to appear for a well-placed long pass or two that Harry Kane & Co. can hurry after.

Yunus Musah, Christian Pulisic and Tyler Adams have all made some savvy interventions to win possession, eliciting a hearty cheer from the US fans in attendance, but that’s been about it so far. It’s worth noting that England aren’t really taking advantage of their opponents’ generosity.

A nice spell of possession control down the right ends in a cross that finds US midfielder Weston McKennie, who blasts it over the bar from 12 yards out. He knows what a miss that was. So do we.

Fans go all out


13th minute: First big chance for England! Some neat interplay down the right puts Jude Bellingham, one of the stars of the World Cup so far, into space to run at Tim Ream. He plays it wide for Saka, whose low cross then finds Kane in the middle. His shot looks to be heading in, but for a last-minute deflection by Walker Zimmerman that sends it fizzing past the post. England do nothing meaningful with the corner, but we do get to see Harry Maguire, who isn’t the nimblest of individuals, try and dribble his way into the penalty area for a shot on goal.

Not the best quarter-hour for an American fan. They’re defending far too close to their own goal — never a good thing — and haven’t really managed a coherent spell of possession at the other end yet. England enjoying about two-thirds of the ball so far as well.


8th minute: After a rousing, full-throated pair of pregame anthems, the first few minutes have been fairly gentle. The US are content to let England tap the ball around in unthreatening places, chasing it all over like a boy trying to reclaim his runaway balloon. England’s possession has been fairly sterile and the goalkeepers might have touched the ball more than either striker so far.

One positive for the US: They at least seem to have a bit of pace and purpose down the wings, with left-back Antonee Robinson getting high up the field in attack at every opportunity.

Pregame: First, let’s look on the bright side for the USMNT. They can’t be eliminated today! A win for England — which seems the smart pick today considering that Harry Kane & Co. romped 6-2 over Iran in their first game — just puts the US in a “win or go home” scenario against Iran on Tuesday. Funnily enough, the last time England met the US at a World Cup, in 2010, they drew with England in that tournament, faced a “win or go home” scenario in their final game of the group … and they got the result they needed against Algeria with Landon Donovan’s injury-time goal.

And so for Friday night, in what looks to be a frenetic, electric atmosphere at Al Bayt Stadium, England manager Gareth Southgate named an unchanged side to face the US, sticking with the XI that caught fire against Iran in their opener. Look for the combo of Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka on England’s right to cause mischief, and while Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire are largely punch lines this season at their club (Manchester United), they’ve been rock-solid when representing the Three Lions.

As for the US, they couldn’t convert chances against Wales in their opener, which has forced coach Gregg Berhalter’s hand into one change from that team. Out goes Josh Sargent, the flame-haired striker in England’s second tier; in comes Haji Wright, arguably the most surprising name to make it in the World Cup squad, but a striker who has actually scored a bunch of goals at the club level in the lead-up to Qatar.

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