U.S. squad prepares for gamesmanship from Iran in must-win match

AL RAYYAN, Qatar — In case you hadn't heard, there is a big game for the United States men's national team coming up Tuesday. .

It's a game of simplicity — where a win is golden and nothing else against Iran will do (2 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App).

Carlos Queiroz's squad is a high-quality team, good enough to be ranked 20th in the world, compared to the USMNT's 16th, and it did an outstanding job of outplaying Wales 2-0 on Friday.

"Every single team in the World Cup, they all have a different kind of style and different ways of gamesmanship, and that's the nature of this sport," U.S

Iran's bench was extremely vocal and animated in pressurizing the referee during its game with Wales, though that is by no means an unusual sight in this tournament. 

This is not like the do-or-die situation the USA faced against Algeria in 2010, when the Algerians also needed a win and threw players forward in search of a goal, opening up just enough space for Landon Donovan's famous breakaway. 

"No matter how much I can respect what you did inside the pitch, those remarks about Iran culture, Iran national team and my players are a disgrace to football," Queiroz tweeted at Klinsmann. 

Most of the current USMNT players were either not born or not old enough to remember the last time the USA faced Iran at the World Cup, a 1998 clash that ended with a demoralizing 2-1 defeat in a tournament in which the Americans finished dead-last out of the 32 teams.