Team USA in a Must-Win Situation After Their Second Straight Draw in the Group Play Round

The World Cup action rolled on through this Thanksgiving week as the U.S. was looking to get a much-needed win in their second match of the group play rounds. After their 1-1 tie to Wales, The U.S. was looking for a win against England who won their first match against Iran 6-2.

With Wales losing to Iran, it was more important that the U.S. did not take a loss against England. A tie wouldn't hurt the U.S. but they benefit even more with a win. With Wales losing control of their destiny after their loss to Iran, the outcome of the U.S. England game could set up a win or game between Iran and the U.S. Now that the stage is set, let's see how the game went down and how this will affect team USA's advancement to the next round.

After England's dominant performance over Iran, many were wondering if the U.S. could even hang around in this game. The U.S. did more than just hang around as the U.S. would keep the pressure on England as they forced their way to the goal on numerous chances. Christian Pulisic took a shot late in the first half that went off the crossbar. England wouldn't back down either as they had shot to get a goal in late in the half as well.

The first half would go scoreless and the second half was no different. The U.S. looked tired late in the game just as they did against Wales. England on the other hand seemed to get a burst of energy as they looked to close this game out. England forced the issue around the net and even had a couple of close calls on some free kicks, including one near the end of the game.

Neither team could get a goal as time expired resulting in a second-straight draw for team USA. The U.S. would have 10 shots to England's 8 and they also led with 7 corner kicks to England's 3. England would lead in shots on target with 3 to USA's 1. England would also lead in accuracy with 87% to USA's 83%. With two games in the books for every team in group B, here is what the standings look like.

This set's up a winner take all match between Iran and the U.S. with the winner moving on to the round of 16. The U.S. can only move on with a win over Iran, but Iran can move on with a win or draw in the game. The two teams will battle it out for the right to advance to the round of 16 Tuesday with kickoff set for 1:00 PM.