After Mexico, another one of the organizers of the 2026 World Cup has mathematically secured the “ticket” for the “32” of the tournament. The USA defeated Australia 2-0 in Seattle, drawing 2×2 in Group 4 and now they will be waiting to learn the name of their opponent in the next stage.
The match of the 2nd matchday was largely decided by the first 45 minutes, during which Mauricio Pochettino’s team took a 2-0 lead over the “Kangaroos”. In the 11th minute, Balogan entered the area, passed vertically towards Beach’s goal, and Burgess, in his attempt to clear the ball, inadvertently sent it into the Australian net (1-0).
The Americans were in complete control of the match and in the 43rd minute they scored a second goal with Freeman’s header after Beach’s temporary save on Dest’s volley. A phase in which Zweier’s assistant was exposed, who flagged the 21-year-old Villarreal defender as offside. And who quickly corrected the VAR, since the young player started from a normal position before “writing” the 2-0.
The three changes Popovich made at the start of the second half didn’t help Australia score to get back into the game. Now, the “Socceroos” will play a qualification “final” with Paraguay.
Referee: Felix Zweier (Germany)
Yellow: Robinson, Balogan, Richards – Bosh, Circati, Soutar, Italiano
The compositions of the two teams:
USA (Mauricio Pochettino): Freeze, Freeman, Richards, Ream, Robinson (80′ Trusty), Tillman, Adams, Dest, McKenney (90’+6 Reyna), Pepi (74′ Berhalter), Balogan (90’+6 Wright)
AUSTRALIA (Tony Popovich): Beach, Italiano, Circati, Soutar, Burgess (46′ Geria), Bosh, O’Neill, Ocon-Engstler (78′ Irvine), Lecky (61′ Volpato), Velupillai (46′ Metcalf), Toure (46′ Irancunda)