In their first World Cup meeting since 2010, England and the United States battled to a scoreless draw at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar.
The second draw for the Americans leaves Tuesday’s final Group Stage match, against Iran, with “win or go home” stakes. England remain on track to finish first in the group and advance to the knockout round.
This is the first time since 1950 that the US held a European team at the World Cup without a goal. It is also the first 0-0 draw in American World Cup history.
Here are the biggest plays and top moments from Friday’s action:
Full-time: England 0, United States 0
So, that was the game we’ve been waiting over six months for, and all the smack talk and pregame nerves led to an engaging, but rather mild, scoreless draw. We got more subs for both teams — Marcus Rashford came on for England, Giovanni Reyna and Josh Sargent for the US — but only one scoring chance in a surprisingly short injury time period.
England fans will wonder how Harry Kane missed that wide-open header in the 93rd minute from Shaw’s teasing free-kick. US fans now know they need a win — nothing less will suffice – in order to reach the last 16. Fans of any team will wonder just why they watched 90 minutes of two teams not really trying that hard to win.
In terms of great performances:
England: Harry Maguire defended extremely well, Jude Bellingham was lively before tiring in the second half, and Shaw was better than he’s been for club side Manchester United.
USA: Shout-outs to the central defensive pair of Tim Ream and Walker Zimmerman for denying England, but the bigger praise goes to Tyler Adams, Yunus Musah and Weston McKennie for somewhat bossing the midfield in a rather disjointed match. Christian Pulisic tried his best to create something, as did Timothy Weah on the other flank.
From here, England just need a positive result (win or draw) against Wales on Tuesday to sail through as group leaders, while the US must beat Iran to advance in second.
Second half
73rd minute: This game is less exciting than a prestige drama on a new streaming service. Seriously, are both teams content with sharing the spoils? Have they worked out some weird détente?
Pulisic has had a couple of harmless shots, England have survived a couple of US corners, Saka fired in a tantalizing low cross that didn’t find a teammate for a scoring opportunity and England have made some subs.
ON FOR ENGLAND: Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish
OFF FOR ENGLAND: Jude Bellingham, Raheem Sterling
Henderson offers a bit more discipline and structure in midfield than the end-to-end Bellingham, while Grealish’s status as a bit of a tricky creative player means he’s on the field to try and draw US defenders out of position and create room for Kane & Co. inside the box.
SUBS FOR THE USMNT
ON: Brenden Aaronson
OFF: Weston McKennie
ON: Shaq Moore
OFF: Sergino Dest
Aaronson is on to add a bit of pace and hopefully some aggression that’ll unsettle Maguire in the England defense. Moore for Dest is a like-for-like swap, with one right-back replacing another.
England have five total shots, one on goal. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the last team to keep England in single-digit shots in a World Cup game was Costa Rica in 2014, also in a 0-0 draw (8 shots).
56th minute: We’re now firmly into the “chess match” portion of this one as neither side seem especially jazzed about overextending themselves in attack in case it leaves them exposed. England defender John Stones blocks a Haji Wright shot, with McKennie blazing the rebound off-target.
Moments later, Mount fails to fire after almost being surprised by the clever flick from Kane that gave him an opportunity. England aren’t looking good at all and it feels like this game will be decided by whichever team reacts first and makes substitutions or tries something else.
