The United States is moving on at the 2026 World Cup.
Mauricio Pochettino’s team stayed perfect at this summer’s tournament with a 2-0 victory over Australia on Friday that secured the USMNT’s place in the round of 32.
Paraguay’s 1-0 win over Turkiye later in the day means the U.S. will finish first in Group D. Pochettino’s squad owns a superior head-to-head record versus both Paraguay and the Socceroos should any of them finish level on six points. Turkiye, meanwhile, was eliminated with its loss to Paraguay.
As the Group D winner, the United States will take on a third-place finisher – potentially from Group B – in the round of 32. That match will be played July 1 at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.
Following a 4-1 victory over Paraguay in its tournament opener, the U.S. has now won back-to-back matches at a men’s World Cup for the first time since the inaugural event in 1930.
Cameron Burgess put the ball in his own net – the seventh own goal of the tournament thus far – in the 11th minute of Friday’s contest in Seattle to give the co-host the early lead, and Alex Freeman doubled the advantage with a header before the halftime interval.
Folarin Balogun, who scored twice against Paraguay, created the Australia own goal with a surging run into the penalty area before playing the ball across that Burgess couldn’t deal with.
“I want to be dangerous, I want to create opportunities,” Balogun said after the match, according to Andrew Destin of The Associated Press. “It might not always be myself that scores, but if I can force an error that gives us the lead, then for me it’s like a goal as well. It was a special start to the game to give us the momentum.”
The U.S. was in total control in the opening half, outshooting Australia 9-2 and enjoying 70% of the possession.
Though Australia looked more threatening in the second stanza after introducing Nestory Irankunda off the bench, the U.S. held firm to secure its second consecutive victory.
The United States was without star attacker Christian Pulisic, who missed the contest due to the calf issue that forced him out of the team’s tournament opener. Ricardo Pepi started in place of the AC Milan forward.
Fellow co-host Mexico is the only other team to seal a knockout berth at this summer’s tournament so far. Together with Canada, the three co-hosts are yet to lose any of their six combined matches, winning five of them. The teams have combined to score 16 goals and have conceded just twice.
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