USA head coach Mauricio Pochettino called his players “amazing” and compared their fans to supporters in his native Argentina after the World Cup 2026 co-hosts reached the knockout stage by beating Australia 2-0 at Lumen Field.
A former international for the reigning champions, Pochettino paused his post-match interview to raise his fists in celebration to admirers who sang his name in Seattle, where Cameron Burgess scored an own goal and Alex Freeman headed in before half-time.
“It was a fantastic game again,” said Pochettino, who oversaw a 4-1 win over Paraguay on matchday one.
“Argentina have amazing fans but we are matching Argentina. It’s amazing, our fans. I feel so happy for them.”
World Cup 2026 analysis: Can USA win finals?
The USA secured another impressive win despite the absence of captain and attacking inspiration Christian Pulisic, who watched from the bench after suffering a calf injury against Paraguay.
“Christian is one of the best players in the in the world and we hope he can recover as soon as possible,” said Pochettino.
“But if we want to win the competition, we need the whole team. All the players need to be important.”
Former England striker Wayne Rooney called Pochettino’s ambition to win the 2026 edition “fantastic”.
“Are the USA going to win it?” Rooney asked ITV. “Probably not, but he is spreading the message and you can feel that in their two performances.
“That’s why he’s a top manager… making his players believe they can win it.”
USA vs Australia: Balogun ‘full circle’ at World Cup 2026
Folarin Balogun scored twice against Paraguay and produced the cross from which Burgess found his own net.
“We wanted to start fast again, like we did against Paraguay,” said the former England Under-21 forward, who switched to the USA in 2023.
“It always makes the game easier. I’m so happy for Freeman – he’s such a humble kid, so down to earth and to get his first World Cup goal on home soil makes it a special evening for him as well.
“It means everything. I feel like this tournament is coming full circle for me. It’s been three years since I committed to the US and to repay the fans on the biggest stage means the world to me.”
Australia ‘sluggish’ vs USA at World Cup 2026
Australia head coach Tony Popovic’s three half-time changes included the introductions of Conor Metcalfe and Nestory Irankunda, who had started and scored in their impressive opening 2-0 win over Turkiye, alongside Jason Geria.
“I don’t know if it was the occasion but we looked sluggish, heavy-legged,” said Popovic. “[The USA were] quicker, more powerful.
“They won every duel, they won every second ball and when you do that, it makes it very difficult to get any gain any momentum.
“Then we conceded two soft goals. But the reaction in the second half was outstanding when you think, about this noise here [and playing a] host nation.
“The players showed how good they are in the second half, but at this level you can’t give away that much in the first.
“We had a lot of fatigued boys in the first half. Physically and mentally, it was tough. But um, yeah, outstanding second half, so we’re we’re going to build on that.”
Rooney declared he “didn’t like” Popovic’s interview. “When you rest players or you’re not playing your best players – especially against a USA team who press, when you need that outlet – he made a mistake and he recognised that at half-time.
“He tried to fix it and they were much better in the second half. You have to play your best team to try to get out of the group, because that would have been an achievement for Australia. He’s messed up.”
The US players went WILD for their second goal! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/pTFr3uLMZJ
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 19, 2026
World Cup 2026: USA, Australia fixtures, schedule
Should Turkiye not beat Paraguay in the later game in Group D (04:00 BST on Saturday), the USA will win Group D and be guaranteed a last-32 contest against one of the third-placed finishers among the groups in San Francisco on July 1.
The USA and Australia play their final fixtures of the group stage on Thursday. Asterisk denotes match starting the following day in that territory.
| Date | Opponents | Venue | BST start time | ET | PT |
| June 25 | Turkiye | Los Angeles | 03:00* | 22:00 | 19:00 |
| June 25 | Paraguay | San Francisco | 03:00* | 22:00 | 19:00 |
World Cup 2026: USA team vs Australia
The USA made one change by introducing Ricardo Pepi in place of Pulisic.
USA: Matt Freese, Alex Freeman, Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Malik Tillman, Sergino Dest, Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi
USA substitutes: Matt Turner, Auston Trusty, Giovanni Reyna, Brenden Aaronson, Miles Robinson, Sebastian Berhalter, Cristian Roldan, Max Arfsten, Haji Wright, Timothy Weah, Mark McKenzie, Joe Scally, Chris Brady, Alex Zendejas
World Cup 2026: Australia team vs USA
Australia made two changes from their win over Turkiye five days earlier, bringing in Nishan Velupillay and Matthew Leckie for Metcalfe and Irankunda.
Australia: Patrick Beach, Jacob Italiano, Alessandro Circati, Harry Souttar, Cameron Burgess, Jordan Bos, Mathew Leckie, Aiden O’Neill, Paul Okon-Engstler, Nishan Velupillay, Mohamed Toure
Australia substitutes: Mathew Ryan, Milos Degenek, Jason Geria, Connor Metcalfe, Ajdin Hrustic, Awer Mabil, Paul Izzo, Cameron Devlin, Kai Trewin, Aziz Behich, Nestory Irankunda, Cristian Volpato, Jackson Irvine, Lucas Herrington, Tete Yengi
World Cup 2026: United States v Australia stats
- This was the first World Cup meeting between the teams, who have shared four friendlies
- The USA had won their preceding two encounters, prevailing 3-1 in June 2010 and 2-1 in October 2025, when Haji Wright scored twice from Cristian Roldan assists
- They have won each of their last eight matches played in Seattle, including each of their six matches at the Seattle Stadium
- The win over Paraguay was the USA’s joint-largest margin of victory at the World Cup and the first time they’ve scored at least four goals in a match at the finals
- The USMNT previously won consecutive games at the tournament in their first two matches in the inaugural 1930 edition, one of which was a three-goal victory over Paraguay.
- Australia’s only previous match against a World Cup host was in 1974, losing 3-0 to West Germany in Hamburg
- They have won three of their last five World Cup matches (L2), which is more than they won across their first 17 matches in the competition (W2 D4 L11)
- The 30 shots Australia faced in their win over Turkiye was the second-most they have absorbed in a World Cup match, after a total of 31 against West Germany in 1974
- Irankunda became Australia’s youngest ever World Cup scorer (20 years, 125 days) in their win over Turkiye but failed to become the first player under the age of 21 to score in his first two World Cup appearances since Memphis Depay for the Netherlands in 2014
