World Cup 2022 USMNT must solve scoring problem to have any hope

You cannot pin much more pressure on a young team than having to play on the largest stage in its sport faced with a win-and-you’re-in, lose-(or tie)-and-you-go-home scenario.

Yet here we are with the U.S. national team at the World Cup in Qatar, where one 90-minute Group B match against Iran on Tuesday comes with implications far overriding its presence as a mere sporting contest that the U.S. must win in order to advance out of group stage and into the knockout round.

There’s some heavy geopolitical gravity that comes with this match that, quite frankly, is probably unfair to lay upon a group of upstart 20-somethings trying to live out the time of their respective lives.

But this is the burden the Americans must bear when they face Iran, a nation that on Sunday called for the U.S. to be kicked out of the tournament after the United States Soccer Federation altered Iran’s flag on its social media platforms to show support for thousands of protesters in Iran challenging the government for basic human rights.

The federation had temporarily displayed Iran’s national flag on its official Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts without the emblem of the Islamic Republic as a show of support for those protesting over the death Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was killed after she was detained by police for allegedly not abiding by the country’s conservative dress code.

Iran state media said Sunday the U.S. should be immediately booted from the tournament for a “distorted image” of the country’s flag.

So, this is the backdrop to what already is as high-stress a sporting situation as you can have. Because a U.S. failure to advance to the knockout round of the tournament will serve as a slap in the face to those in U.S. soccer who believe that America is an advancing soccer nation ready to complete with the world’s best.

The U.S. has already spent the past four years living in the shame of failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. While the U.S. at least qualified for this one, a three-and-out in Qatar would be devastating to the progress U.S. soccer believes it’s made.

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Yet, the Americans have played well, outplaying their first two Group B opponents — Wales and England — in three of the four halves they played. The 0-0 draw with England in the second match, in fact, was eye-opening because the Americans had the better of play against the No. 5-ranked team in the world, a result that gained global respect.

Respect is nice, but it doesn’t advance you into the knockout stage of the World Cup. Goals do.

In order to survive and advance, the Americans will need to score a goal (or more), which has not only been difficult to do in this World Cup (they’ve managed one goal in two matches) but seemingly in every World Cup.

Finding forwards skilled enough to put the ball in the back of the net is an age-old problem for the U.S. In the 25 World Cup matches the U.S. has played since America hosted the tournament in 1994, the U.S. has scored a total of just 24 goals.

Consider that 11 players in this World Cup have scored multiple goals in matches. The U.S. has one goal in two matches.

So, the question for the U.S. is this: If someone’s going to break through and score, who’s it going to be?

U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter, in his effort to find a striker with a finishing touch in the attacking third, has tried Josh Sargent and Haji Wright and subbed in Jordan Morris against Wales.

The elephant in the room is Gio Reyna, the mystery of this U.S. World Cup. He’s unquestionably one of America’s most dynamic players, yet he didn’t play a minute against Wales and only got in for the final few minutes against England.

Berhalter, after the Wales match, told reporters Reyna was dealing with leg tightness and wasn’t fit enough. Reyna told reporters that was untrue and that he was perfectly fit.

Something’s going on there, and if the Americans flame out Tuesday, the curious Reyna situation is going to stick with Berhalter for a long time. It’ll be what he’s remembered for from this World Cup, which would be a shame, because he’s done a lot of good work building U.S. soccer back up after it failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Another attacking player on the roster Berhalter hasn’t played is Jesus Ferreira. The FC Dallas forward not only led the USMNT with five goals in 2022, but he also finished fourth in MLS with 18 goals this season. Given the Americans’ goal-scoring difficulties, overlooking Ferreira — particularly if that continues Tuesday and the U.S. still doesn’t score — smacks of coaching malpractice.

“I talked before the World Cup about how seriously the team, the staff, is taking this responsibility to gain momentum for the sport in America,” Berhalter said. “We’re not done. A night like [the England match] helps, but there has to be more to come.”

More cannot come without goals being scored.

Pressure, pressure, pressure.