Kick-off: 1900, 29/11/2022
Stadium: Al Thumama Stadium
TV: BBC2
USA really created a good impression against England and are fancied to beat Iran to book their place in the last 16 of the World Cup.
Team Melli recovered from being mauled by the Three Lions to upset Wales but have never made it past the group stage in five previous attempts.
We reckon 93/100 for a Stars and Stripes success is the way to go with our first Iran vs USA prediction.
Iran Odds
Iran were all over the place at the back when thrashed 6-2 by England but clearly took some heart from Mehdi Taremi’s consolation brace.
Canny coach Carlos Queiroz then made some adjustments and masterminded a well-deserved 2-0 victory over Wales.
Rouzbeh Cheshmi and Rezaeian Ramin only struck in stoppage time after the Dragons lost goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey to a red card in the closing stages.
However, Team Melli had been the better team throughout that contest in front of a large support.
“The crowd deserve a special word,” said Queiroz. “It was a joy, it was happiness, it was drama; I love this game when things are this way.”
He hailed the character of his team, adding: “It was really very emotional because we rebounded from a difficult situation.”
Iran’s fans will no doubt be out in force again here, but there will be one significant difference.
The early start against Wales meant that the temperature was around 30 degrees Celsius, conditions that suited Iran much more.
With a late kick-off this time, we like 5/2 for the Americans to prevail by any one-goal margin from the Iran vs USA odds.
USA Odds
USA need to win here after drawing both of their games but have shown enough to suggest they can avoid an early trip home.
They impressed in the first half versus Wales, when Timothy Weah put them ahead, but conceded a Gareth Bale equaliser from the penalty spot.
Not much was expected of Gregg Berhalter’s side against England but they put in a performance full of energy and enthusiasm.
Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic rattled the crossbar in the first half and America led 10-8 in terms of attempts on goal.
Berhalter said: “Overall, pleased with the performance of the group and most importantly the belief, because that never wavered.
“The final product could still be better, but in the end it sets up our first knockout game of the World Cup, basically. We win or we’re out.”
Berhalter does make a good point in highlighting that USA lacked composure and a cutting edge when getting into good positions.
However, we’re taking 11/2 for them to shade a tight tussle 1-0 in our Iran vs USA betting tips.
Haji Wright has a decent scoring record since joining Turkish outfit Antalyaspor and looked a real handful up front versus England, so 4/1 for him to break the deadlock appeals.
Additional stats
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