FIFA World Cup 2022: Group B- Cristian Pulisic the hero for USA's win over Iran, England's changes work magic

FIFA World Cup (Image source: Twitter)

After Senegal and Netherlands' qualification to the Round of 16, it was Group B that put forth their challengers in England and USA. Let's look at how the last games of Group B panned out.

England vs Wales

The two neighbours collided for European supremacy at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium. England came into the game with 4 points and needed a draw to secure their place into the Round of 16 Wales on the other hand needed a win to have any chance of qualification. While the two teams played the first half in a very restricted fashion, the second half showed the gulf in quality between the two nations.

England had come out with some major changes from their draw with the USA and all goals came by those changes as well. Marcus Rashford who was starting his first game opened the scoring in the 50th minute. Phil Foden who was playing his first game doubled the lead just a minute later and then Rashford capped off a dominating win with a goal at the 68th minute. With this win, England have topped the Group B table with 7 points.

Their 3rd goal of the match was also England's 100th at the FIFA World Cup. Rashford meanwhile has been their top scorer at the event with 3 goals in total.

Iran vs USA

Elsewhere, Iran clashed against the USA where both the teams had a chance to qualify. Iran only needed a draw whereas the USA needed a win to go through. Christian Pulisic, USA's arguably greatest player opened the scoring in the 38th minute, and then the young team defended their score to win the match by 0-1. With this win, the USA became the second team from Group B to get into the Round of 16.