Dominant in the first half, the United States beat Australia 2-0 in the second round of Group D of the 2026 World Cup, this Friday (19), in Seattle, and secured qualification for the 32-team phase, the first knockout stage of this expanded edition, with 48 countries, one round in advance.
With the victory, the Americans reached six points and took the isolated lead in Group D.
The United States opened the scoring in the 11th minute of the first half with an own goal from Cameron Burgess, after a cross from the left by top scorer Folarin Balogun, who has two goals in the tournament.
The USA’s 4-1 rout of Paraguay, in the opening game of the group, had started in the same way, with an own goal by São Paulo midfielder Damián Bobadilla.
The early goal helped to reassure the American fans, worried about the absence of left winger Christian Pulisic, one of the team’s stars. He was left out of the duel with Australia because of a left calf injury suffered against Paraguay.
Alex Freeman increased the score with a header, in the 43rd minute, in a goal validated by the VAR (video referee) check after suspicion of offside — Balogun was in an irregular position, but did not participate in the play.
Well organized, the US team dominated the match in the first half and forced Australia to remain defensive, with rare opportunities for counterattacks.
“The US was excellent. Australia was terrible.” This is how former England striker Wayne Rooney summarized the first half during the BBC broadcast.
American dominance ended in the second half, with many more clear scoring opportunities for the Oceania team after the substitutions made by coach Tony Popovic.
The pressure, however, was not enough: Australia wasted all chances to reduce the score, and the duel ended with the score created by the USA in the first half.
The Oceania team, which had defeated Turkey 2-0 in its debut, faces Paraguay on Thursday (25).
The USA’s result this Friday consolidates the good performance of the three host countries.
Mexico debuted by winning 2-0 against South Africa and then 1-0 against South Korea, being the first team to qualify for the knockout stages.
Canada recorded its first World Cup victory, a 6-0 rout of Qatar, after drawing 1-1 with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
