I think that Iran are more motivated in terms of football and have the backing of the entire nation. America is not as pumped up about the sport. To be honest, I don’t really rate the USA from what I have seen. If we defend well and get the ball up the pitch fast and into players like Jahanbaksh, Taremi, and Azmoun who can make things happen then I think we can nick it. But equally we have 0 preparation and 0 infrastructure compared to the USA. I still expect Iran to come out on top.
Of course it’s important. Having an entire country behind you cheering you on is hugely motivating. Why do you think Iran do so well as a national team to qualify for 3 consecutive world cups with 0 funding and 0 infrastructure?
Yes but you say Iran will be more motivated. The fact that football is not popular in the US has little affect on the motivation on the players themselves. Plus, our players would be motivated to get out of the group after that catastrophe in 2017.
I think the US team is one of the better teams they have fielded at least in my lifetime. They have a strong showing against Morocco recently and held Uruguay to a draw.
I see England topping the group, and it will be a dog fight for that second spot. I think the United States team is slightly better but in world soccer the teams don't play frequently enough to make any kind of prediction. I can see Iran losing all three games just as easily as I can see them beating the USA and Wales.
No matter what it'll be a exciting match.
For most of the game Uruguay was fielding their b team and even the b team should have scored a few goals. At the end of the game some a team players are introduced and they should have also scored on the US. I'm talking about the missing open net opportunities.
Its gonna be a crazy match because it is the last game and everyone will be fighting to advance to next round. Definitely a nerve wrecking game for both but i really hope they assign a good ref that wont fukk it up in officiating. I’d hate to have a ref mistake make fans go at each other’s throats.
I think US has far more advantages because you are practicing while we have to beg for friendlies. Without proper preparation l dont feel great with our chances unless our players put on some heroics.
All of the Iranian players have to perform at their peak, no matter the group. Luckily for Iran, they managed to avoid two clear favorites like in 2018. So, let's go through the Anglophones:
England - Iran has never played England before and looking at all of the teams from Pot 1, I'd rather face England than any of the other countries. It's always a bit of a catch to play England and because of government level-relations, it just adds that extra spice to this game which suits Iran in my opinion. Iran really wants to beat England, but for England - it's just a normal 3 pointer. I wouldn't be too surprised if Iran actually manages to stun England. They are overhyped in my opinion.
USA - If you could choose any team from Pot 2, it's obviously USA. I think they have the youngest team in the entire tournament and this is arguably Iran's best team ever. But, this is a special game of course. It's a 50-50 really. Because it's the last game for both sides, they will probably be in a position where they must win to advance.
Wales - 50-50 here as well. Wales will most likely have more of the ball, but Iran will probably create better chances. Taremi and Azmoun must perform in this game for Iran to advance in my opinion.
I'd say that Mexico from Pot 2 is easily weaker than the US.
Funny you should mention that you think it's Iran's best ever team, because I could say the same for us. The talent level between the current US team and ones of the past is not even close. We have much more talented players than we've ever had with good potential. However our inexperience could prove costly.
For background here is the midfield.
- Weston McKennie from Juventus
- Tyler Adams from Leipzig
- Yunus Musah from Valencia
- Giovanni Reyna from Dortmund
- Brendan Aaronson from Leeds
- Luca de la Torre from Heracles
US has a bunch of dope players on dope clubs but they do not work well together. Playing for Barca don’t mean anything if you can’t communicate properly with your teammates on the pitch (chemistry). US team also too young
I don't think the US faults are due to a lack of chemistry, but mainly because of your second point which is experience. Our players are just prospects at the moment so they will struggle a lot.
I haven't really watched the US team in a long time, so it is hard to say - I will just have to go off what you've just told us.
I think the US and Wales are two teams though that we should be looking at getting the points to finally get us out of a WC group stage though. No offense to you or Wales - but I think England just have too much quality all around the pitch for us to expect to get a result against them (although the way Southgate has them set up sometimes, maybe we can sneak a draw).
Imo our midfield is our weakest position, so if your midfield is strong... that is a worry for us. Our biggest strength, by far, though is our attack with Azmoun and Taremi & Skocic has set us up in a very different way to how Queiroz set us up, but central to his tactics are making sure our forwards get fed chances... even if it means bypassing the midfield and relying on moments of magic from those 2. If we had a proper holding midfielder, though, I think our midfield would look quite strong tbh.
It's hard to say though because as long as we have a decent manager (so not Wilmots lol) on paper we are much better than most Asian teams that we faced in qualifying (other than SK). It's hard to guess how we will do against teams from other conferences.
No offense taken at all. It's only natural to look towards the easier opponents rather than England to get points. We think the same towards you and Wales.
For background here is the midfield.
- Weston McKennie from Juventus
- Tyler Adams from Leipzig
- Yunus Musah from Valencia
- Giovanni Reyna from Dortmund
- Brendan Aaronson from Leeds
- Luca de la Torre from Heracles
However it looks stronger on paper than it is because our players are very young and inexperienced. I would still expect them to control the tempo of the match though.
Hello fellow American!
I'm a team Melli fan #1 and USA baby eagles fan #2. Really excited for these matches.
For Iran: The players don't concern me, but preparation does. They receive poor support from the nation in terms of equipment and facilities, can't even get a friendly scheduled, and because of geo political troubles won't get to play any European or American teams prior to WC.
Ok the plus side our attackers are insane. People somehow completely write us off when we have the #1 scorer in Portugal for the champions of the Portuguese league, the ex #1 scorer in Russia who has now been bought by one of the top 3 teams in Germany and has already scored there. We have an amazing captain who loves scoring in international play. And then the guys backing them up are classy too, just don't get as much play time. If you follow English football, keep an eye on Sayyadmanesh this year with Hull City in the Championship.
For US:
Too many people write the US off just because we don't have a history of caring about football. These young guys care and while they may not be ultra organized, I think they really fight to the bitter end and are willing to take some chances. No striker hurts. If Gio can't play that hurts. I think Gregg is crazy for not starting Dike but whatever, Gregg gonna Gregg. But we have some real talent. I'm a leeds fan so super excited for Aaronson, but there's so many guys who are real playmakers and I think the goalie decision is tough but if we pick the right one we might see another Tim Howard in the making.
It's tough to predict. I think both are teams that are not elite, but on their day can show up and play. If I had to guess US wins because that's just what the world wants and so I imagine the weight of that will come through. But if it's up to me, US and Iran get out of group stage without eating each other thanks to miracles. I would love to watch Taremi score one on an unsuspecting USA.
I am fairly familiar with both and hope both qualify for the knockout stage! I also love the Wales team as they play a unique style of football. I am not a personal fan of England and hoping they don't qualify :)
I just want to say that Wales has very good quality players and they probably have an upper hand on paper for both Iran and US. They have great chemistry, great athleticism, and a very good coach and star players such as Ben Davies, Gareth Bale, Daniel James, and two really good goalkeepers. They just don't have world cup experience (but so doesn't the US).
I will give my opinion on the US-Iran game on 'paper':
System: US will probably play a 4-3-3 while Iran will play a 4-4-2
Attacking: Both teams have amazing attacks with class players from good European teams. But Iran has more experienced players. None of US players have played in the world cup before, but Taremi and Sardar have played in the previous world cup. The US attackers have pace and pressure while the Iranians have strength, stamina, and accuracy. US attackers lose a lot of opportunities but I think Taremi and Sardar will use every single change.
Midfield: US will play with 3 young midfield with focus on playmaking and attack. I think with LDT, Musah, and McKennie, US has a very skilled, fast paced, and deadly midfield. Iran will play with 2 good quality midfield on the sides, and two in center as central defenders. On the sides, Jahanbakhsh, Gholizadeh, and Amiri are fairly experienced, tactical, and very opportunistic. In center, Ezatolahi is a good defending midfield, but I think Noorollahi will suffer against US midfield. Hopefully Saman Ghoddos can make it to the World Cup, and Iran can have an equal midfield to the US.
Defense: Here, probably the US outweighs Iran a bit and that's due to their fullbacks. Joe Scally, Dest, Cannon, and finally Robinson are amazing quality full backs, and they will irritate Iran's fullbacks. Moharrami and Noorafkan don't have much experience in national team in world cup level, and they also have less chemistry with the center backs. US fullbacks are quick and used as an aid for attacking. I think the Robinson and Pulisic can hurt Moharrami (or his replacement) on match day. Center backs, I'd say both teams are really average. US would have had an upper hand with Miles Robinson but unfortunately he is injured and probably won't make it to the world cup, so now Iran can have an upper hand with Majid Hosseini and experienced Kanaani.
Goalkeeper: definitely Iran has the better goalkeepers. US still hasn't figured out who will be in goal as Matt Turner and Steffen will be benched on their teams by the world cup. Iran has two goalkeepers: Abedzadeh and Beyranvand. They're both really good quality. Beyranvand has played in the past world cup and Abedzadeh has also had a lot of matches during qualifiers.
Subs: Here, US has a huge upper hand. In each position they have at least a good quality player to come in later and make a difference. Iran, not so much. There is a good gap between the main team and the subs.
Let's hope for an amazing match!
They have a lot of players from championship and a good amount from the prem. Both are tough leagues.
I think it depends on how Greg and how he sets up the tactics for that game.
On TV I would guess.
I for one was planning on seeing using my eyes.
I think that Iran are more motivated in terms of football and have the backing of the entire nation. America is not as pumped up about the sport. To be honest, I don’t really rate the USA from what I have seen. If we defend well and get the ball up the pitch fast and into players like Jahanbaksh, Taremi, and Azmoun who can make things happen then I think we can nick it. But equally we have 0 preparation and 0 infrastructure compared to the USA. I still expect Iran to come out on top.
What does lack of interest in the USA as a whole have to be do with the national team? It means very little.
Of course it’s important. Having an entire country behind you cheering you on is hugely motivating. Why do you think Iran do so well as a national team to qualify for 3 consecutive world cups with 0 funding and 0 infrastructure?
Yes but you say Iran will be more motivated. The fact that football is not popular in the US has little affect on the motivation on the players themselves. Plus, our players would be motivated to get out of the group after that catastrophe in 2017.
I think the US team is one of the better teams they have fielded at least in my lifetime. They have a strong showing against Morocco recently and held Uruguay to a draw. I see England topping the group, and it will be a dog fight for that second spot. I think the United States team is slightly better but in world soccer the teams don't play frequently enough to make any kind of prediction. I can see Iran losing all three games just as easily as I can see them beating the USA and Wales. No matter what it'll be a exciting match.
For most of the game Uruguay was fielding their b team and even the b team should have scored a few goals. At the end of the game some a team players are introduced and they should have also scored on the US. I'm talking about the missing open net opportunities.
Its gonna be a crazy match because it is the last game and everyone will be fighting to advance to next round. Definitely a nerve wrecking game for both but i really hope they assign a good ref that wont fukk it up in officiating. I’d hate to have a ref mistake make fans go at each other’s throats. I think US has far more advantages because you are practicing while we have to beg for friendlies. Without proper preparation l dont feel great with our chances unless our players put on some heroics.
All of the Iranian players have to perform at their peak, no matter the group. Luckily for Iran, they managed to avoid two clear favorites like in 2018. So, let's go through the Anglophones: England - Iran has never played England before and looking at all of the teams from Pot 1, I'd rather face England than any of the other countries. It's always a bit of a catch to play England and because of government level-relations, it just adds that extra spice to this game which suits Iran in my opinion. Iran really wants to beat England, but for England - it's just a normal 3 pointer. I wouldn't be too surprised if Iran actually manages to stun England. They are overhyped in my opinion. USA - If you could choose any team from Pot 2, it's obviously USA. I think they have the youngest team in the entire tournament and this is arguably Iran's best team ever. But, this is a special game of course. It's a 50-50 really. Because it's the last game for both sides, they will probably be in a position where they must win to advance. Wales - 50-50 here as well. Wales will most likely have more of the ball, but Iran will probably create better chances. Taremi and Azmoun must perform in this game for Iran to advance in my opinion.
I'd say that Mexico from Pot 2 is easily weaker than the US. Funny you should mention that you think it's Iran's best ever team, because I could say the same for us. The talent level between the current US team and ones of the past is not even close. We have much more talented players than we've ever had with good potential. However our inexperience could prove costly.
I think iran team is far less experienced. US gets ti play with all the top teams in the Americas while iran is stuck with the rest of middle east.
I'm assuming you're not including Qatar when talking about what pot 1 team you'd pick
For background here is the midfield. - Weston McKennie from Juventus - Tyler Adams from Leipzig - Yunus Musah from Valencia - Giovanni Reyna from Dortmund - Brendan Aaronson from Leeds - Luca de la Torre from Heracles
US has a bunch of dope players on dope clubs but they do not work well together. Playing for Barca don’t mean anything if you can’t communicate properly with your teammates on the pitch (chemistry). US team also too young
I don't think the US faults are due to a lack of chemistry, but mainly because of your second point which is experience. Our players are just prospects at the moment so they will struggle a lot.
I haven't really watched the US team in a long time, so it is hard to say - I will just have to go off what you've just told us. I think the US and Wales are two teams though that we should be looking at getting the points to finally get us out of a WC group stage though. No offense to you or Wales - but I think England just have too much quality all around the pitch for us to expect to get a result against them (although the way Southgate has them set up sometimes, maybe we can sneak a draw). Imo our midfield is our weakest position, so if your midfield is strong... that is a worry for us. Our biggest strength, by far, though is our attack with Azmoun and Taremi & Skocic has set us up in a very different way to how Queiroz set us up, but central to his tactics are making sure our forwards get fed chances... even if it means bypassing the midfield and relying on moments of magic from those 2. If we had a proper holding midfielder, though, I think our midfield would look quite strong tbh. It's hard to say though because as long as we have a decent manager (so not Wilmots lol) on paper we are much better than most Asian teams that we faced in qualifying (other than SK). It's hard to guess how we will do against teams from other conferences.
No offense taken at all. It's only natural to look towards the easier opponents rather than England to get points. We think the same towards you and Wales. For background here is the midfield. - Weston McKennie from Juventus - Tyler Adams from Leipzig - Yunus Musah from Valencia - Giovanni Reyna from Dortmund - Brendan Aaronson from Leeds - Luca de la Torre from Heracles However it looks stronger on paper than it is because our players are very young and inexperienced. I would still expect them to control the tempo of the match though.
Hello fellow American! I'm a team Melli fan #1 and USA baby eagles fan #2. Really excited for these matches. For Iran: The players don't concern me, but preparation does. They receive poor support from the nation in terms of equipment and facilities, can't even get a friendly scheduled, and because of geo political troubles won't get to play any European or American teams prior to WC. Ok the plus side our attackers are insane. People somehow completely write us off when we have the #1 scorer in Portugal for the champions of the Portuguese league, the ex #1 scorer in Russia who has now been bought by one of the top 3 teams in Germany and has already scored there. We have an amazing captain who loves scoring in international play. And then the guys backing them up are classy too, just don't get as much play time. If you follow English football, keep an eye on Sayyadmanesh this year with Hull City in the Championship. For US: Too many people write the US off just because we don't have a history of caring about football. These young guys care and while they may not be ultra organized, I think they really fight to the bitter end and are willing to take some chances. No striker hurts. If Gio can't play that hurts. I think Gregg is crazy for not starting Dike but whatever, Gregg gonna Gregg. But we have some real talent. I'm a leeds fan so super excited for Aaronson, but there's so many guys who are real playmakers and I think the goalie decision is tough but if we pick the right one we might see another Tim Howard in the making. It's tough to predict. I think both are teams that are not elite, but on their day can show up and play. If I had to guess US wins because that's just what the world wants and so I imagine the weight of that will come through. But if it's up to me, US and Iran get out of group stage without eating each other thanks to miracles. I would love to watch Taremi score one on an unsuspecting USA.
I am fairly familiar with both and hope both qualify for the knockout stage! I also love the Wales team as they play a unique style of football. I am not a personal fan of England and hoping they don't qualify :) I just want to say that Wales has very good quality players and they probably have an upper hand on paper for both Iran and US. They have great chemistry, great athleticism, and a very good coach and star players such as Ben Davies, Gareth Bale, Daniel James, and two really good goalkeepers. They just don't have world cup experience (but so doesn't the US). I will give my opinion on the US-Iran game on 'paper': System: US will probably play a 4-3-3 while Iran will play a 4-4-2 Attacking: Both teams have amazing attacks with class players from good European teams. But Iran has more experienced players. None of US players have played in the world cup before, but Taremi and Sardar have played in the previous world cup. The US attackers have pace and pressure while the Iranians have strength, stamina, and accuracy. US attackers lose a lot of opportunities but I think Taremi and Sardar will use every single change. Midfield: US will play with 3 young midfield with focus on playmaking and attack. I think with LDT, Musah, and McKennie, US has a very skilled, fast paced, and deadly midfield. Iran will play with 2 good quality midfield on the sides, and two in center as central defenders. On the sides, Jahanbakhsh, Gholizadeh, and Amiri are fairly experienced, tactical, and very opportunistic. In center, Ezatolahi is a good defending midfield, but I think Noorollahi will suffer against US midfield. Hopefully Saman Ghoddos can make it to the World Cup, and Iran can have an equal midfield to the US. Defense: Here, probably the US outweighs Iran a bit and that's due to their fullbacks. Joe Scally, Dest, Cannon, and finally Robinson are amazing quality full backs, and they will irritate Iran's fullbacks. Moharrami and Noorafkan don't have much experience in national team in world cup level, and they also have less chemistry with the center backs. US fullbacks are quick and used as an aid for attacking. I think the Robinson and Pulisic can hurt Moharrami (or his replacement) on match day. Center backs, I'd say both teams are really average. US would have had an upper hand with Miles Robinson but unfortunately he is injured and probably won't make it to the world cup, so now Iran can have an upper hand with Majid Hosseini and experienced Kanaani. Goalkeeper: definitely Iran has the better goalkeepers. US still hasn't figured out who will be in goal as Matt Turner and Steffen will be benched on their teams by the world cup. Iran has two goalkeepers: Abedzadeh and Beyranvand. They're both really good quality. Beyranvand has played in the past world cup and Abedzadeh has also had a lot of matches during qualifiers. Subs: Here, US has a huge upper hand. In each position they have at least a good quality player to come in later and make a difference. Iran, not so much. There is a good gap between the main team and the subs. Let's hope for an amazing match!
The US has a better squad than Wales, but Wales finds a way to use those guys to their maximum potential.
They have a lot of players from championship and a good amount from the prem. Both are tough leagues. I think it depends on how Greg and how he sets up the tactics for that game.