Karn Sharma and Swapnil Singh bag four key wickets to secure a 35-run victory in Hyderabad
Christian Pulisic could not even celebrate scoring against Iran after he injured himself as the United States beat Iran 1-0 on Tuesday in an entertaining Group B decider to storm into the last 16 of the World Cup.
Needing a win to reach the knockout stages, the Americans were relentless in attack in a high-tempo game and broke the deadlock in the 38th minute when Sergino Dest's perfect header found Pulisic, who clashed with the goalkeeper as he bundled the ball in and was too injured to celebrate.
Spurred on by an electric atmosphere at Doha's Al Thumama stadium, the U.S. team oozed confidence and was always in control against an Iran side who could have advanced with a draw.
Yunus Musah and Weston McKennie were instrumental in almost every U.S. move, with Dest always troubling Iran, who were outplayed and created few chances.
The meeting between the two diplomatic adversaries was the first at a World Cup since the 1998 tournament in France, a match dubbed "the mother of all football matches".
ALSO READ:
Karn Sharma and Swapnil Singh bag four key wickets to secure a 35-run victory in Hyderabad
The American they will face Australia and Serbia on July 15 and July 17 as part of their preparation for the Paris Olympic Games
The historic season opener will feature fighters from the Featherweight and Bantamweight divisions
Between them the two players are set to receive a stake around $150 million from the Tour's newly-formed enterprise
The four-time Grand Slam winner has enjoyed huge success with her powerful baseline game but has struggled on clay
The Parisians are on 69 points with four games left with Monaco trailing by 11 points
Reds defeat at Everton extinguishes their last hopes of winning the Premier League
The in-form Italian will move to within 330points of World No 1 Djokovic if he wins his fourth trophy of 2024 at the Madrid Open