« Our fans respond to Argentina »

USA head coach Mauricio Pochettino called his players « incredible » and compared their fans to those in his native Argentina after the 2026 World Cup 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 fans chanting 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 in the first leg.

« Argentina has great fans, but we’re handling Argentina. It’s amazing, our fans. I feel so happy for them. »

2026 World Cup Analysis: Can USA Win Finals?

The USA secured another impressive win despite the absence of captain and attack mastermind Christian Pulisic, who watched from the bench after picking up a calf injury against Paraguay.

« Cristian is one of the best players in the world and we hope he recovers as soon as possible, » Pochettino said.

« But if we want to win the competition, we need the whole team. All the players have to be important. »

Former England striker Wayne Rooney has called Pochettino’s ambition to win the 2026 edition « fantastic ».

« Will the US win it? » Rooney asked ITV. “Probably not, but he’s getting the message out and you can feel it in both of their performances.

« That’s why he’s a top manager … he makes his players believe they can win. »

USA vs Australia: Balogun ‘Full Circle’ at 2026 World Cup

Folarin Balogun scored twice against Paraguay and crossed from which Burgess found his own goal.

« We wanted to start quickly again like we did against Paraguay, » said the former England Under-21 striker, who has moved to the US 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 scoring his first World Cup goal on home soil makes it a special night for him too.

« It means everything. I feel like this tournament comes full circle for me. It’s been three years since I committed to the USA and to give back to the fans on the biggest stage means everything to me. »

Australia ‘slow’ against USA at 2026 World Cup

Australia head coach Tony Popovich’s three changes at half-time included the introduction of Conor Metcalfe and Nestori Irankunda, who had started and scored in the impressive 2-0 opening win over Turkey, along with Jason Geria.

« I don’t know if it was the occasion, but we looked sluggish, heavy-footed, » Popovich said. “(The US was) faster, more powerful.

“They won every duel, they won every second ball and when you do that it becomes very difficult to get any momentum.

« Then we conceded two soft goals. But the reaction in the second half was outstanding when you think about the noise here (and playing against) the home nation.

« The players showed how good they are in the second half, but at this level you can’t give so much away in the first half.

« We had a lot of tired guys in the first half. Physically and mentally, it was tough. But um, yeah, an amazing second half, so we’ll build on that. »

Rooney said he « didn’t like » Popovich’s interview. “When you rest players or don’t play your best players — especially against a USA team that presses when you need that outlet — he made a mistake and he admitted it at halftime.

« He tried to fix it and they were much better in the second half. You have to play your best team to try and get out of the group because that would have been an achievement for Australia. He messed up. »

The USA players went crazy for their second goal! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/pTFr3uLMZJ

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 19, 2026

World Cup 2026: USA, Australia schedule, schedule

If Turkey does not beat Paraguay in the later Group D match (04:00 BST on Saturday), the USA will win Group D and be guaranteed a place in the last 32 against one of the third-placed group finishers in San Francisco on July 1.

The USA and Australia play their final group stage matches on Thursday. An asterisk means a match starting the next day in that territory.

Date	Opponents	Venue	BST start time	ET	PT
June 25	Turkey	Los Angeles	03:00*	22:00 hours	7:00 p.m
June 25	Paraguay	San Francisco	03:00*	22:00 hours	7:00 p.m

FIFA World Cup 2026: Team USA vs Australia

The USA made one change, bringing on Ricardo Pepi for Pulisic.

USA: Matt Freese, Alex Freeman, Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Antony Robinson, Weston McKenney, Tyler Adams, Malik Tillman, Sergino Dest, Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi

US Alternates: Matt Turner, Auston Trusty, Giovanni Reyna, Brendan Aaronson, Miles Robinson, Sebastian Berhalter, Christian Roldan, Max Arfsten, Hadji Wright, Timothy Weah, Mark McKenzie, Joe Scully, Chris Brady, Alex Zendehas

FIFA World Cup 2026: Team Australia vs USA

Australia made two changes from their win over Turkiye five days earlier, bringing in Nishan Velupillai and Matthew Leckie for Metcalfe and Irankunda.

Australia: Patrick Beach, Jacob Italiano, Alessandro Chircati, Harry Soutar, Cameron Burgess, Jordan Boss, Matthew Leckie, Aidan O’Neill, Paul Okon-Engstler, Nishan Velupillai, Mohamed Toure

Australia substitutes: Matthew Ryan, Milos Degenek, Jason Geria, Connor Metcalf, Ajdin Hrustic, Auer Mabil, Paul Izzo, Cameron Devlin, Kai Trevin, Aziz Behic, Nestori Irankunda, Christian Volpato, Jackson Irvine, Lucas Herrington, Tete Yengi

FIFA World Cup 2026: USA vs Australia Stats

• That was the first world championship a match between teams that have played four friendlies
• The USA won their previous two meetings, winning 3-1 in June 2010 and 2-1 in October 2025, when Hadji Wright scored twice from assists by Cristian Roldan
• They have won each of their last eight games played in Seattle, including each of their six games at Seattle Stadium
• The win over Paraguay was the USA’s biggest overall win at the World Cup and the first time they scored at least four goals in a finals game
• The USMNT had previously won back-to-back games in the tournament in their first two matches in the first edition since 1930, one of which was a three-goal win over Paraguay.
• Australia’s only previous game against a host World Cup team was in 1974 when they lost 3-0 to West Germany in Hamburg
• They have won three of their last five World Cup games (L2), which is more than they won in their first 17 games in the competition (W2 D4 L11)
• The 30 shots Australia faced in their win over Turkey was the second most they have conceded in a World Cup match, after a total of 31 against West Germany in 1974.
• Irankunda became Australia’s youngest goalscorer at a World Cup (20 years, 125 days) in their victory over Turkey, but fell short of becoming the first under-21 player to score in his first two World Cup appearances since Memphis Depay for the Netherlands in 2014.