Piers Morgan and ex-USMNT captain Alexi Lalas have weighed up how far England and USA will go at the 2022 World Cup after both countries booked their round of 16 spots to extend their stay in Qatar.
The Three Lions defeated Wales 3-0 to finish top of Group B, while the USMNT sealed a narrow 1-0 win over Iran to progress through to the knockout rounds.
“Of course it’s England,” Morgan told Fox Sports’ Katie Abdo when asked who will go further into the tournament between the Three Lions and the Red, White and Blue.
“We’ll beat Senegal and then we’ll be in the last eight. You I think sadly I think the run will end and frankly against the Netherlands they are a good team and they probably have more experience at this level of tournament football.
“But I think they had a very young team and the average age today is 24. I was very excited to see how Team USA was playing. If you had a striker I would support him to go further.
England defeated Wales 3-0 and now face Senegal in the World Cup Round of 16
The USA meet the Netherlands after beating Iran to finish second behind England in Group B
“You will be very excited if the United States beats the Netherlands and you guys bomb against Senegal. We can come back here and have a big ol’ party,” Lalas replied, adding that the Star and Stripes play better when they’re “underdogs,” much like they did before the 0-0 draw with England last week.
On Tuesday, the USA beat Iran thanks to a first-half goal from winger Christian Pulisic, while England defeated Wales to take first place.
Wales, appearing at a World Cup for the first time in 64 years, finished bottom of their group and third-placed Iran were also eliminated from the tournament.
Asked if Gregg Berhalter’s young side has a cap ahead of Saturday’s game against the Netherlands, Morgan said: “Well I think the problem remains for the United States that they don’t have a real striker.
“And there were quite a few missed opportunities, I thought. [Tim] We missed a few. A very simple header. Another shot a little later. I thought yes, he is not a natural finisher. If you had a natural finisher, I honestly think you had a really good chance, United States, going pretty far.
Piers Morgan claims the US will fight without a ‘natural finisher’ in the knockout stages
Christian Pulisic scored the only goal of the game for the USA against Iran before injuring himself
“Without finishers [though], when you get to the knockout rounds you have to have someone who can score goals and I thought the goal that was scored tonight was brilliant. The heading [and the] happen. One of the best things I’ve seen from this World Cup, but I’m worried about their progress simply because of the lack of strikers.
“We have the opposite problem,” Morgan said of England’s attacks. “We’ve got strikers out of our ears so we’re in a better position.”
Lalas seemed to disagree with his counterpart, letting him know that Three Lions main forward Harry Kane has yet to score in his three starts in Qatar.
“They beat up Iran in a completely different scenario and moment, right? And then Wales… it’s Wales, right? And it’s the third game. OK, so that’s what you’re supposed to do.
“Look at the ceiling, I think you’re going to need help. For Piers we don’t have a real scorer. But no matter what, if we get to the round of 16 against a team like the Netherlands, they will be the favourites.”
“Well, the interesting thing about our US team is that we actually play best when we’re underdogs, when people don’t expect us to do well.”
Ex-USMNT captain Alexi Lalas said the Star and Stripes play better when they are “underdogs”.
“The expectation sometimes… they’re an incredible weight and the difference between a US team and an England team is that England are used to carrying that weight consistently, so I mean the USA could go on and underdogs could be underdogs , underdogs, underdogs, so here they will always be underdogs from now until they win the World Cup.
Back in the World Cup after missing the 2018 tournament, USA never reached the semi-finals save for the inaugural competition in Uruguay in 1930 – the team’s best-ever result on the international soccer stage.
Meanwhile, the US Football Association said Pulisic had been diagnosed with a contused pelvis, returned to the team hotel and is a day away from the team’s first knockout game against the Netherlands.
Josh Sargent also escaped injured, injuring his right ankle in a tackle by Majid Hosseini in the 74th minute and leaving the team three minutes later.
Before Saturday’s game, the USA are 4-1 with the Netherlands, all played as friendlies.