England has never beaten the USA. And on the strength of their showing today, this will likely be the outcome should they cross paths again. England lacks something. Ambition, desire, stick it to the man. Maybe they are entirely too self satisfied, having an enviable world product like the Premier League, a cottage industry singing variations of “its coming home”, and a dangerous reliance on a few individuals to bail them out. But the hype generated appears to be their downfall as the years tick by. They got to the 2020 Euro finals but against Italy failed to capitalize on the penalty shoot out and in the 2018 World Cup made the semi-finals but lost to Luka Modric’s Croatia.
Harry Kane was ineffectual because England’s ineptness turned him into a journeyman on the pitch. He had to play nurse, doctor, and hedge fund evangelist. Forfeiting his best positions to actually score a goal. England looked like Antonio Conte’s Spurs, passing sideways, backwards, to ghosts, to the matrix, slow, so slow, and utterly bereft of ideas, without the inevitable second half wake up sting in the tail that make the Spurs so dangerous. Like a Balrog bringing down Gandalf. That did not happen. England was sterile for the entire duration and even their last minute rouse was feeble and unfocused.
On the other hand, the USA were direct, physical, swarming. Dest was a pest, Wright was bright, Weah was oh so neah, Pulisic was cruel as shit, and Turner was a Three Lions ambition burner. Each and every USMNT player took part in bringing England to a painful standstill. Plenty of game balls to go around.
The long and short of on paper, England is still the abortive frontrunner to qualify from Group B but theoretically, all 4 teams are still alive. There are plenty of combinations and permutations. Bale could come out of the golf course for the last match, making life hard for England. An Iranian victory over the USA could gift them group winner status. A US win could give them the group if England lost to Wales, And even Wales could qualify in the event of USA losing to Iran and winning against England by overcoming an adverse goal differential. Unlikely but possible on paper. The USA controls its destiny. Win and they are through.
At this point, Brazil, Spain, and France look like the pick of the bunch. Germany looks spent, Belgium peaked 4 years ago, Croatia doesn’t have the legs, Portugal have Ronaldo as baggage, and England is England, flaky and believing of hype.