The Americans lost 3-1 to the Netherlands in the knockout round.
After years of controversy around its location, the 2022 World Cup is underway in Qatar.
There have been allegations of payoffs to FIFA members to earn the bid, criticism of Qatar's laws against women and LGBTQ individuals, the deaths of migrants used to build the sparkling new stadiums and even last-second controversy over beer sales. The tournament was also moved from its usual summer timeframe to the holiday season to avoid Qatar's intensely hot weather.
But on the field, the best players in the world -- such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar -- are ready to go. And the U.S. is back with a hungry, young team after failing to qualify for the last World Cup.
The U.S. is out of the World Cup after losing 3-1 to the Netherlands in Saturday's knockout round match.
U.S. player Haji Wright's goal in the second half was not enough to hand the team a win. The Netherlands will now move on to the final eight.
Argentina and Australia will face off later Saturday. The winner of that match will play against the Netherlands in the final eight.
At the halftime mark, the Netherlands leads the U.S. 2-0 in the knockout round match.
The winner of the match will move on to the final eight. The loser will go home.
American sports fans are used to watching big college football games on the first Saturday of December, but international football will be on the menu this year.
The U.S. will take the field for a knockout round match against the Netherlands on Saturday at 10 a.m. It's simple: win and you move on to the final eight, lose and you go home. There will be no draws like the group stage.
The best news for the U.S. is that Christian Pulisic has been cleared to play and will likely start against the Dutch, who are ranked eighth in the FIFA world rankings. They will need Pulisic to anchor the team up front.
Incidentally, the U.S. player who set up Pulisic for the game-winning goal against Iran, Sergino Dest, was born and raised in the Netherlands. His father, however, is from Brooklyn, New York, and he chose to side with the Americans over the Dutch several years ago.
It won't be easy for the U.S. to advance though. The Dutch are given a 66% chance to win, according to FiveThirtyEight's match predictor, and the tandem of forward Cody Gakpo and midfielder Frenkie de Jong has been formidable.
The second match on Saturday (2 p.m., Fox) will be Australia against Argentina. The Argentinians, led by the legendary Lionel Messi, will be a big favorite. (In fact, FiveThirtyEight gives them an 83% chance of winning, tied for the largest of any round of 16 game.) The winner will face the winner of USA-Netherlands next week.
Switzerland picked up a 3-2 win over Ghana to advance to the knockout stage of the World Cup as the second-place team in Group G.
Brazil, which lost to Cameroon 1-0, had already qualified for the knockout stage with wins in their first two games. The win by Switzerland moved them into a tie with Brazil at 6 points, but the perennial favorites took the group on goal differential.
Still, the loss was the first for Brazil in a year and a half. They also hadn't lost in a group stage in their last 17 World Cup games. Cameroon's Vincent Aboubakar scored in the 92nd minute to get the win. He immediately removed his shirt in celebration, which earned him his second yellow card of the match and elimination from the match.
Neymar, still recovering from injury, did not play for Brazil. The team also started its backup goalkeeper.
Switzerland trailed 2-1 briefly in a heated match that even broke into an altercation in stoppage time. For the Swiss, Xherdan Shaqiri scored in the 20th minute, Breel Embolo scored in the 44th minute and Reemo Freuler scored in the 48th minute.
Brazil will face South Korea in its first knockout game, while Switzerland will face Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal.
