A late penalty by Gareth Bale earned Wales a point in their Group B opener against the US Men's National Team at the 2022 World Cup at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium.

USA manager Gregg Berhalter went with his standard 4-3-3 formation, opting to start Tim Ream instead of Aaron Long alongside Walker Zimmerman.

Josh Sargent was also a surprise name in the starting XI as he got the nod over Jesus Ferreira and Giovanni Reyna in the three-man front line.

Kieffer Moore was dropped to the bench with manager Rob Page choosing to start Harry Wilson alongside Aaron Ramsey and in front of Ethan Ampadu.

Tim Weah gave the Stars and Stripes a 36th-minute lead after a surging run and pass from talisman Christian Pulisic in a dominant first half for Gregg Berhalter's side.

Moore and Ben Davies came close to equalizing before Bale drew a penalty with less than ten minutes to play and he stepped up to beat Matt Turner and give his side a result in their first World Cup game in 64 years.

Story of the match

USA were much the better side in the opening stages of the match with Pulisic proving to be a handful from the opening kickoff, winning a corner after just four minutes, but Wales were able to clear the danger.

The Stars and Stripes could have been in front after just nine minutes as Joe Rodon inadvertently headed towards his own goal with only quick reactions from Wayne Hennessey sparing his defender's blushes.

Shortly after, the ball was recycled to Antonee Robinson and his excellent ball in found Sargent, whose close-range header was denied by Hennessey.

Inside the final ten minutes of the first half, the Stars and Stripes made their dominance count. Wales played a long ball forward with Bale being dispossessed and Pulisic found some space to play a delightful pass to Weah, who stabbed past an onrushing Hennessey and into the bottom corner.

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A minute from halftime, the Dragons had their first meaningful passage of play as Ramsey won a corner and flicked well wide of the head of Davies.

Page introduced Moore at the start of the second half for the ineffective Dan James to help link up play with Bale and Ramsey and allowed Neco Williams to push forward.

The Bournemouth frontman, who scored three times in his last three matches with the Cherries in the lead-up to the World Cup, rose highest from Wilson's corner at the near post, but failed to hit the target with the net at his mercy after Turner tipped over Davies' header.

Berhalter then made a change, taking off Weston McKennie and bringing on Brenden Aaronson, who proved to provide a boost in attack.

Three more substitutions for the Stars and Stripes saw Kellyn Acosta, Haji Wright and DeAndre Yedlin replace Yunus Musah, Sargent and Dest on 75 minutes.

A few minutes later, Brennan Johnson was thrown on for Williams.

With eight minutes remaining, a pull-back by Ramsey found Bale and he got past Walker Zimmerman in the box, who tripped him up with referee Abdulrahman Al-Jassim giving a penalty.

The Dragons star stepped up to the spot and powered past Turner, who got a hand to the shot, to haul his side level.

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Wales could have won it a minute from time, a superb back-heel by the excellent Moore played Johnson through, but he shot straight at the chest of Turner.

Player of the match: Kieffer Moore

Until his introduction, Wales were being dominated with the speed of the Americans causing the Dragons all sorts of problems, but the 6'5" forward proved to be his side's best player.

Besides the link-up play proving to be more effective, he brought the forwards into the action more, was extremely dangerous on set pieces and set up Johnson for a possible late winner.

With James putting in a poor display, Page must start Moore when Wales face Iran on Friday.

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