Overview
The two teams in high form will face each other in the second match of Group D of the 2026 World Cup. Hosts USA will face Australia at Seattle after both won in the opening match.
Mauricio Pochettino's team was one of the most impressive teams in the first round when they easily defeated Paraguay 4-1 in Los Angeles. Folarin Balogun scored a double, Giovanni Reyna scored a goal, while the other goal came from Damian Bobadilla's own goal.
This victory helped Balogun become the second US player to score 2 or more goals in a World Cup match, after Bert Patenaude with a hat-trick against Paraguay in 1930.
Captain center-back Tim Ream also made history when he became the oldest player to wear the US national team jersey at the men's World Cup, at the age of 38 years and 250 days. He made 23 cross-line passes, the most for a defender at the World Cup since John Paintsil of Ghana in 2010.
This is the biggest victory of the US team at a World Cup, and also the first time they scored 4 goals in a match in the biggest arena on the planet.
However, the co-host of the 2026 World Cup has never won 2 consecutive matches in the tournament since the first two victories at the 1930 World Cup.
Despite a promising start under Pochettino, the US team will face a difficult challenge named Australia, who also just had a brave performance to defeat Turkey 2-0 in the opening match.
Nestory Irankunda scored the opening goal from a sharp counter-attack, thereby becoming Australia's youngest player to score at the World Cup at the age of 20 years and 125 days. Connor Metcalfe then sealed the victory with a long-range shot in the second half.
Australia's counter-attacking style of play maximized its effectiveness even though they only controlled the ball 28.3% - the lowest rate of this team in a World Cup match.
Australia will have the opportunity to create a 3-point gap at the top of Group D if they continue to win. Meanwhile, the US team is likely to be without Christian Pulisic due to injury in the match against Paraguay.
Before leaving the field in the first half of that match, Pulisic had time to assist Balogun to open the score. At the World Cup alone, he currently has one goal and three assists, only less than Landon Donovan's record of contributing to goals five times since 1966.
On Australia's side, the kangaroo team has the strongest force for this confrontation. Having scored in 5 consecutive World Cup matches, they have every reason to aim for another important victory.
Head-to-head record
The US and Australia will face each other for the first time at a World Cup. Previously, the two teams have met 4 times, all in friendly matches in 1992, 1998, 2010 and 2025.
The last two encounters have both witnessed victories for the US team. After a 3-1 victory in June 2010, the Stars and Stripes team continued to defeat Australia 2-1 in October 2025.
Score prediction: USA 1-1 Australia
The match between the US and Australia takes place at 2:00 AM on June 20 (Vietnam time).
