After seeing the hosts easily beaten by Ecuador following a lavish opening ceremony, England cruise past Iran, and the Netherlands wait until late to beat Senegal in a dull encounter, the World Cup sprang into life with an intense match between the USA and Wales. From the opening minutes, both teams threw themselves into heavy challenges. Sergino Dest and Weston McKennie, injury doubts ahead of the tournament, picked up yellow cards in a frantic opening period. Chris Mepham and Gareth Bale responded for Wales with robust tackles that drew the referee’s attention before halftime of a full blooded affair.
As for the actual football, the USA controlled much of the first half, pinning the Welsh in their own end for long stretches. Their failure to take greater advantage of territorial superiority cost them two points in the end. Only a well taken goal by Tim Weah after thirty-eight minutes separated the teams when the Qatari referee sent the teams to the changing rooms for a well earned breather.
There was much to like about the US approach in the first half. Pinning the Welsh back took a superb effort by Man of the Match Tyler Adams. Adams became the youngest captain at the World Cup by a vote of his peers and gave a tremendous effort, cutting off most attempts by Wales to escape their end of the field during the first half. Unfortunately, there was a lack of guile among the more attacking elements. Weah and Antonee Robinson went forward plenty during the first half, but had difficulty picking out their teammates. The Welsh back five, tall and physical, had little difficulty repelling the random crosses from the flanks. This was always going to be difficult, given that the best midfield options alongside Adams are Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah. McKennie is a physical player, not known for individual flair or picking out the killer pass. Musah transitions the ball beautifully from defense to the attacking half, but lacks creativity once he arrives in the final third. Strangely, Musah spent a lot of time out on the left side, rather than playing more centrally.
Weah’s goal showcased the strengths of the team. Josh Sargent played the perfect center forward role, controlling the ball and laying it to Christian Pulisic on the run. The US #10 drew a defender before playing Weah in on goal. The Lille wingback did what his father, the great George Weah, never could and finished superbly to score his first World Cup goal. From there the US simply had to finish the game off, but couldn’t generate another chance.
At halftime, Wales made a change, bringing on the giant center forward Keiffer Moore for the in invisible Daniel James. That moved Bale out to his preferred role on the right. The USA dropped deep, conceding ground and the ball, instead of building on the success of the first half. The pressure built as the game went on. Eventually, Walker Zimmerman foolishly fouled Bale from behind to concede the penalty that gave Wales a hard earned point. The US dropped two. This is was a proper World Cup game though, high intensity, fast, and physical. The teams gave no quarter and will have plenty of bruises between them. England will benefit from having an easy game and watching their two toughest opponents fight out an energy-sapping affair and pick up plenty of yellow cards.
The USA now faces England on Friday. Gio Reyna stayed on the bench against Wales as a precaution due to some muscle tightness. The Americans will need him fresh on Friday. Expect a few other changes following the recovery period. McKennie has to be a doubt after limping out against Wales. Pulisic took a number of heavy tackles, too. This may be a game made for Brendan Aaronson to start. Haji Wright also added some freshness when he came on for Sargent during the last fifteen minutes. Dest may not be able to start back to back games either, meaning the experience De’Andre Yedlin or youth of Joe Scally could take the right back spot. Having dropped two points, the US has to get at least a draw on Friday to make certain the final day of group matches is meaningful.
Mexico will open against Poland and meet Argentina on Saturday in two massive games. Not much is expected of this Mexican team. Lionel Messi and company will likely be too much for them to handle, but Poland can be beaten. However, they have one thing a lot teams wish they had: a star center forward. Robert Lewandowski must be stopped for Mexico to have any shot in this game. Mexico will have Saudi Arabia in their final group match. That is a game that can be won. It’s the first two that will determine whether Mexico can advance or not. Nothing is expected of Costa Rica in a group with Spain and Germany. Canada will also have a tough time with Belgium and Croatia in their group. While early elimination of the CONCACAF teams would not be surprising, at least the US has shown they will not go down without a fight.
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