No rest for the timid. The hope that England could qualify for the round of 16, win the group with a game to spare, and allow players a breather before the knock-out round commenced, evaporated north of Doha with a performance as tame and lame as Monday’s win over Iran was boldly impressive.
Here, England reverted to this year’s type. They were slow, cautious and made to look ordinary by a United States team that was bright and energized but, again, failed to win.
Gregg Berhalter’s players had the best chances and the best of the game but have scored just once in two matches and will go out if they fail to beat Iran next week.
Jack Grealish came on for Raheem Sterling and immediately looked livelier on the flank, but there is no escaping that this was a dreadfully below par performance, a slap in the face after the promise of game one.
England could have won it in injury time when Harry Kane misdirected a header from a Luke Shaw free-kick but, had it gone in, the win would hardly have been merited. With the possible exception of Harry Maguire and John Stones – Maguire has now repelled with more headers than any player in the tournament – nobody looked entirely comfortable. Even goalkeeper Jordan Pickford flapped at a second-half corner from Christian Pulisic, in totally unnecessary fashion.
Southgate will see silver linings, as managers do, and one was certainly the steadfast displays of the center-backs, who largely saw off the fear England would concede late and lose. Yet was this the work of potential champions, given what we have seen of France, Spain and Brazil? No, it was not. It was a sobering experience, and the idea that England could coast into the last 16, rested, fresh and buoyant, proved a fanciful one. It’s a nail biter next Tuesday and little that England did here will have convinced Wales they are not in with more than a puncher’s chance of – if not qualifying, because they would need to win 4-0 – certainly messing with England’s long term prospects.
