The United States reached the World Cup knockout rounds on Friday without its most important player on the field. A 2-0 win over Australia at Lumen Field in Seattle, clinched with a group game still to play, carried the Americans through, while the injured Christian Pulisic watched in street clothes from the sideline.
It was the first time since 1930 that the U.S. men have won back-to-back matches at a World Cup. It happened in front of an American-heavy crowd of 66,925 that had been chanting in the streets outside the stadium for hours before the noon kickoff.
The opening goal came early, and it rhymed with the last one. Just as they had against Paraguay a week earlier, the U.S. forced an own goal inside the first quarter-hour. Folarin Balogun raced down the left, cut a cross into the box, and Australia defender Cameron Burgess turned it into his own net in the 11th minute.
The second belonged to a name few fans knew a month ago. Alex Freeman, son of the former NFL receiver Antonio Freeman, reacted fastest when Sergino Dest’s deflected shot looped into the air, and headed it home from close range late in the first half. He was barely onside. A VAR review confirmed the goal, and Freeman had his first at a World Cup.
Pulisic’s fitness had shadowed the whole week. He hurt his left calf in the opener against Paraguay, came off at halftime, and never practiced with his teammates afterward. “He’s evolving. He’s much better from Friday. We’ll see,” coach Mauricio Pochettino said on Thursday. The waiting lasted until kickoff, when Pulisic was ruled out and Ricardo Pepi was handed his first World Cup start.
Pochettino confirms Pulisic is out and Pepi starts (FOX Sports, @FOXSports)
Starting Pepi raised eyebrows, since he is a striker rather than a winger to drop into Pulisic’s role. It made no difference. The Americans pressed in packs, defended without fuss, and never let a more physical Australia side settle.
There was grit in midfield, where Tyler Adams swept up behind Weston McKennie’s runs and Malik Tillman again linked the play, with Chris Richards and Freeman steady at the back. The U.S. did not flow quite as freely as it had against Paraguay. It did not need to.
The roughness was no surprise. “It’s going to be a battle, I know that for sure, and a rough one as well,” McKennie had warned before the match. Both teams arrived unbeaten, the U.S. off a 4-1 win over Paraguay and Australia off a 2-0 result against Turkiye, which turned Friday into a straight fight for the top of Group D.
Now the path is clear. A draw with Turkiye on Thursday, June 25, would lock up first place and send the U.S. to Santa Clara for a round-of-32 tie against a third-placed team, a kinder route than the runner-up’s side of the bracket.
The result keeps the U.S. moving in lockstep with its fellow North American hosts. Mexico advanced from Group A the same week, while Canada’s qualification was overshadowed by a sickening injury to Ismael Kone.
Whether Pulisic is fit for the knockouts is the question that will trail this team to California. For one loud afternoon in Seattle, the U.S. answered a smaller one. It can win big without him.
