Without Pulisic, USA beat Australia 2-0 in Seattle on Friday. After just two group matches, the USA have qualified for the knockout rounds. A Cameron Burgess own goal and an Alex Freeman header settled the Group D tie at Lumen Field.
Without Pulisic, USA beat Australia 2-0 in Seattle on Friday. After just two group matches, the USA have qualified for the knockout rounds. A Cameron Burgess own goal and an Alex Freeman header settled the Group D tie at Lumen Field.
The USA were ahead inside 11 minutes. Folarin Balogun surged down the left and his low cut-back was turned into his own net by Australia defender Cameron Burgess.
Mauricio Pochettino's team doubled the lead two minutes before the break. A Sergiño Dest shot took a deflection and looped to Alex Freeman, who headed home from close range. The flag went up for offside, but VAR overturned the call and the goal stood. The USA bench spilled onto the pitch in celebration.
Tony Popovic made a triple change at half-time and Australia were sharper after the restart, Cristian Volpato firing over on his World Cup debut and Connor Metcalfe testing Matt Freese. But they failed to score.
The contest grew bad-tempered in the closing stages. German referee Felix Zwayer ended up brandishing seven yellow cards, the most in any match at this World Cup so far. In the last minutes of the game, the referee went down with a muscle cramp. Balogun and Australia's Aiden O'Neill helped him to stretch out his leg before play resumed.
Mauricio Pochettino was satisfied with his side's display. "It was a fantastic game again, very good first half," he said. "I think we dominated the game against a very tough team."
Freeman, scoring his first World Cup goal, described an anxious wait for the review. "It was surreal … obviously at first it was disallowed, so I was kind of anxious when it went to VAR," he said. "It was so emotional for me because you dream of this moment."
Popovic was blunt about a poor opening 45 minutes. "We were slow to every ball, and we couldn't really wrestle back any momentum, which made it difficult," he said. "We conceded a couple of really soft goals, but we just looked flat and lethargic in the first half."
Australia's coach also questioned the second goal. "I'm not sure on that one," he said. "Unfortunately, that didn't go our way. Today wasn't the best day for the referee."
The USA managed the game without Christian Pulisic, who sat out with the calf injury he picked up against Paraguay. Pochettino reshuffled his side and handed a start to Ricardo Pepi, and the co-hosts controlled possession and territory for long spells.
It was a second straight win for a team that opened with a 4-1 victory over Paraguay — the first time the USA have won back-to-back World Cup matches since 1930. The result lifts them to six points, top of Group D and into the last 32. Australia stay second on three, with qualification still in their own hands.
Pochettino, though, made clear he wants his squad whole again. "If we want to win the competition, we need the whole team," he said. "And all the players need to be important."
The group will be settled on the final matchday on June 26. Australia meet Paraguay and the USA face Türkiye on June 26 with first place in Group D within reach, and Pochettino will hope to have Pulisic back.
