US sail into World Cup last 32 with Australia win

The United States became the second nation to reach the knockout stage of the 2026 World Cup, following a commanding 2-0 victory over Australia in Seattle.

As in their 4-1 win over Paraguay, the U.S. made a lightning-quick start and took the lead when Cameron Burgess turned Folarin Balogun’s pass into his own net. Alex Freeman then sealed the three points with a header from Sergino Dest’s deflected strike.

The win means the U.S. follows fellow co-host Mexico into the Round of 32.

Head coach Mauricio Pochettino said he hopes to have Christian Pulisic available for the United States Men’s National Team’s next game, but was encouraged by his side’s performance without him.

“It’s difficult because we want to have all the players. He’s an important player for us, Christian, but that is a team and it was impossible today for him to play. We hope that for the next game he will be available but if we want to win the competition, we need the whole team and all the players to be important. But of course Christian is one of the best players in the world, and I hope that he can recover as soon as possible and can enjoy being on the pitch and helping the team,” Pochettino said.

A perfect start at the World Cup has set the United States up for what could be a special tournament. For those who have followed every U.S. game of the Pochettino era, and indeed every USMNT performance since Qatar, the team’s back-to-back dominant displays have been strikingly surprising, with little prior evidence to suggest such form was on the way.

Pochettino was always going to be judged on his World Cup performance, and he now has his side playing arguably their best football in his tenure, and perhaps in a long time for the program.