The U.S. men’s national team has taken an early lead against Australia, playing today without star Christian Pulisic, who has been ruled out with a calf injury.
The U.S. men’s national team had a tremendous start to this World Cup, dismantling Paraguay last week in a 4-1 win.
The only cause for concern? U.S. star Christian Pulisic was subbed out midway through the game with a calf injury. He’s been ruled out for today’s match against Australia, too.
Can the U.S. keep its momentum going? How will it fare without Pulisic? If the U.S. wins, it would clinch a spot in the round of 32.
The U.S. leads Australia, 2-0, at halftime after a second consecutive dominant first half in the World Cup. The half featured scores off of an Australian own-goal and Alex Freeman’s header, and a U.S. team that controlled 70% of the possession while completing 88% of its passes — far better than Australia’s 62% accuracy.
Sergiño Dest fired the second U.S. shot on goal in the final seconds of the half, a low fastball that was scooped up.
The first half of the game is almost over!
The referee indicated an additional seven minutes of stoppage time.
The U.S. scored a second goal in the 43rd minute. The U.S. fired a shot into the box, and an Australian defender deflected it high into the air. The U.S.’ Alex Freeman tracked the ball, beat the Australian goalkeeper to the spot and headed it into the net.
Initially, the referees ruled Freeman had been offside. But after review, the call was rescinded and Freeman’s goal was ruled good.
Minutes earlier, Freeman had been lying in the grass after colliding with an Australian player. He stayed in the game and now scored a goal. He looked healthy enough celebrating when the referee’s decision came in.
Alex Freeman of the U.S. scores his team's second goal. Lee Smith / Reuters
We’re having a break in play in the 39th minute as both medical teams came onto the field to ensure U.S. defender Alex Freeman and Australia’s Paul Okon-Engstler were OK after they collided. Both were able to get up under their own power and continue playing, but that will add stoppage time to the end of this half.
Freeman is the son of Antonio Freeman, the longtime NFL wide receiver who won a Super Bowl title with Green Bay. Alex chose soccer, though, and made his first U.S. men’s national team appearance in 2025 when he was only 20 years old.
Australia’s Alessandro Circati was given a yellow card after tripping USA’s Malik Tillman on the field.
A referee issues a yellow card to Australia's Alessandro Circati. Maddy Grassy / AP
If you told the U.S. it would lead, 1-0, after only 10 minutes, coach Mauricio Pochettino would absolutely take it. Despite missing the playmaking of injured Christian Pulisic, the U.S. has had several other chances to score, too.
It has not been a perfect start, however. The defense of the U.S. has had a bit of a nervy start, with Australia being allowed to move the ball near goalkeeper Matt Freese for one shot on goal.
Australian player Jordan Bos received the first card of the match in the 16th minute, when he appeared to make contact with Weston McKennie’s face.
The U.S. forced Paraguay into an own goal in its opening game and has now done the same against Australia to start today’s game. According to the Fox broadcast, that’s a World Cup first. No team has ever forced an opponent into scoring an own goal in back-to-back games.
The U.S. also has forced opponents into five own goals now in its World Cup history, the second-most of all time, behind only France.
Cameron Burgess, No. 21, of Australia scores an own goal today. Alex Grimm / Getty Images
After one U.S. attempt to score by Sergiño Dest was blocked minutes earlier, the U.S. follows it up with a run down the left side by Folarin Balogun, who tapped the ball into the box where it was mis-hit into the goal by Australia’s Cameron Burgess as he tried to clear it out of harm’s way. That’s the second time in as many games the first U.S. goal has been an own-goal created by U.S. pressure.
The U.S. has turned the ball over twice now in its own end, and the team has been fortunate that Australia hasn’t been able to convert on those chances. After the first one, Australia had a shot on net, but it wasn’t a particularly threatening shot, and U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese made the save easy.
Pulisic is out of today’s game due to an injury, but stepping in to replace him in a predictably tough game against Australia is Pepi.
The game has kicked off, and we’re now underway.
Tyler Adams of the U.S. is tackled by Mathew Leckie of Australia. Fran Santiago / Getty Images
Again, no Christian Pulisic today.
Balogun greatly contributed to USA’s 4-1 win against Paraguay last week, scoring two goals and becoming the first U.S. player to score multiple times in a game since 1930.
The Brooklyn-born and London-raised player could have represented England in the World Cup but chose to join the U.S. men’s national team in 2023.
Balogun is expected to join today’s lineup as the team faces Australia at Seattle Stadium this afternoon.
Folarin Balogun celebrates scoring his team's second goal against Paraguay on June 12. Sarah Stier / FIFA via Getty Images
Trysta Krick and Jay Croucher preview the upcoming Group D match between USA and Australia, where they expect the Americans to “overwhelm” the visiting Socceroos.
Mauricio Pochettino, manager of the U.S. men’s national team, told Fox Sports that Pulisic “is not available” for today’s game.
Pochettino said his star player was “of course a little bit sad because he wanted to stay, he wanted to participate today, but he is still so swollen.”
Christian Pulisic practices on his own Wednesday. Jamie Squire / Getty Images
Pulisic injured his left calf during the USA team’s first World Cup match last week against Paraguay. Even though the injury forced Pulisic to leave that game at halftime, the team scored a 4-1 win, ramping up great momentum ahead of its match today against Australia.
“We have ahead a very important game. Australia is going to be really tough,” Pochettino said, adding that he hopes Pulisic will be able to rejoin the lineup soon.
Joe Prince-Wright, Nick Mendola and Andy Edwards preview this afternoon’s blockbuster matchup in Group D between USA and Australia at the World Cup in Seattle.
Australia beat Türkiye with a perfectly executed game plan in their World Cup opener but will need to find another level to get a result against confident co-hosts the United States, coach Tony Popovic said yesterday.
Australia began their campaign with a superb 2-0 win over Türkiye, sitting deep and springing on the counter to devastating effect to give themselves a great chance of reaching the knockout stages.
Connor Metcalfe of Australia celebrates scoring his team's second goal against Turkey on June 13. Dean Mouhtaropoulos / Getty Images
However, the U.S. is also coming into the match on a high after dismantling Paraguay 4-1, though the fitness of their influential winger Christian Pulisic is a concern.
Popovic said his side should embrace the challenge of facing the U.S. in their backyard, but was under no illusions about the difficulty of their task.
“We know it will be a different type of challenge,” he told reporters. “Playing the host nation here as well is a wonderful challenge, but also a wonderful opportunity for us.”
Joe Prince-Wright, Nick Mendola and Andy Edwards discuss the latest news regarding USA star Christian Pulisic’s status for today’s showdown with Australia after picking up a knock against Paraguay.
As World Cup fever sweeps the U.S., some fans say tickets purchased through resale platforms like StubHub never arrived. While refunds were offered, many were left scrambling after booking travel. NBC News’ Allie Canal reports.
Canada’s first-ever World Cup win was overshadowed yesterday when midfielder Ismaël Koné suffered a broken leg after a tackle that left teammates shaken and coach Jesse Marsch lamenting an injury that turned a night of celebration into one of anguish.
The 24-year-old Koné was taken off on a stretcher at BC Place after Qatar’s Assim Madibo caught him from behind in the 54th minute of Canada’s 6-0 rout, with Marsch saying the sound of the impact was audible from the sidelines.
“It happened right in front of the bench. We could all hear it,” said Marsch, who immediately recognized the severity of the injury having seen Canada’s Tajon Buchanan suffer a broken tibia during a training session at the 2024 Copa America.
“I knew right away it was similar to when Tajon got hurt in training. Everyone could hear the bones snap,” added Marsch.
Ismaël Koné of Canada is carted off the field on a stretcher yesterday. Ercin Erturk / Anadolu via Getty Images
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