DOHA, Qatar — Ever since April 1, when the 2022 World Cup’s Group B took shape at a glitzy draw here in Doha, there has been a tentative assumption, derived from history and the contour of this group, that four points might be sufficient.
The U.S. could, the thinking went, draw with Wales, lose respectably to England, beat Iran and advance.
Similar outputs, after all, have taken the USMNT to World Cup knockout stages in the past. Win-loss-draw was the formula in 2002 and 2010. With England so clearly favored to top the group in 2022, the Americans, it seemed, just had to avoid a heavy defeat on Black Friday (2 p.