USA clinches spot in World Cup knockouts with shutout of Australia

SEATTLE – No Christian Pulisic? No problem.

The United States men’s national team’s dream start to this home FIFA World Cup threatened to be a nightmare, as the star forward was out with a calf injury and Ricardo Pepi in his place. However, relentless possession and pressure earned another own goal in favor of the U.S. and a video-assisted insurance marker for Alex Freeman in a 2-0 win over Australia on Friday afternoon at Lumen Field.

The United States (2-0-0, 6 points) clinched a spot in the knockout rounds and leads Group D, with a chance to win the group with a Paraguay win over Turkiye or draw in Santa Clara tonight.

“If someone said before the tournament, two games and you'd be through to the knockouts, I think we all would’ve took it,” Folarin Balogun said. “So, we're delighted.”

The Americans close group play against Türkiye (0-0-1, 0 points) on Thursday back in Los Angeles, and at the same time, Australia (1-0-1, 3 points) will kick off against Paraguay (0-0-1, 0 points) in Santa Clara.

Without Pulisic, Pepi and Balogun pushed forward as a pair of strikers. While Pepi came off in the 74th minute, he and Balogun pressed the stout Australian backline all match long, and Balogun put in his second Man of the Match performance in his first two World Cup games.

“The coach (Mauricio Pochettino), he's always given us different ideas to attack. So to play with Pepi today wasn't a shock,” Balogun said. “It wasn't a plan B because CP was out. It didn't feel like that to me. It just felt like another solution to win the game, and also Australia play a back five. So two strikers to occupy the center backs is also a good idea. I think that's credit to the boss, and you can see today it worked.”

The United States dominated possession throughout the first half (57% to 35%), but unlike the opener Paraguay, where the USMNT let the horses ride, Australia’s defensive posture forced the U.S. to break the game through quick passing and even quicker give-and-go bursts.

However, just like Paraguay, the Stars and Stripes got a little help to break through.

Antonee “Jedi” Robinson sprung Balogun down the left wing, and Balogun turned the corner on the Aussie defense into the box. Balogun looked to feed crashing Pepi, but the hard-tracking defense of Cameron Burgess got their first, with the ball deflecting off the stuttering toe of Burgess’ boot for the opening own goal, 1-0, in the 11th minute.

The U.S. is the first team in World Cup history to receive own goals in consecutive matches. It was the fifth World Cup own goal all-time in favor of the U.S., which is second to France’s six in tournament history.

“The ball just got played into the channel from Jedi, and I want to be dangerous,” Balogun said. “I want to create opportunities and there might not always be myself that scores, but if I can force an error that gives us the lead, then for me it's like a goal as well. It was a special start to the game to give us the momentum and then I think we carried that out.”

With the Americans continuing to look forward with attempts to dice through the Australian blockade, the Socceroos continued to meet the U.S. at every pass, getting into the Americans trying to force turnovers and counter the other direction.

The physical flashpoints as the two tried to push play in opposite directions eventually came back to bite the physical Aussies with a yellow card to Jordan Bos in the 16th minute and another to Alessandro Circati in the 32nd minute.

Australia had a moment of offensive form just before the hydration break, Alex Freeman tracked back for a sliding break-up of an Aussie cross. Weston McKennie broke up the ensuing corner kick, and Chris Richards took care of a second immediately after.

Despite the USMNT’s hold of the ball, Australia’s structure kept hold of the game’s pace and tension. The Americans routinely would work their way into the box, but without anything to show for it, there was the danger of one wrong ball springing this for the Socceroos.

The U.S. desperately needed insurance, and finally got it just before stoppage time.

Malik Tillman battled along the end line and was pulled down for a well-earned free kick just outside the right side of the box–a miniature corner kick. Robinson played it to Sergino Dest at the top of the box, who drilled the ball off an Aussie defender high into the air.

Freeman followed the ball to the goal and headed it in for the double-up strike, but the linesman had his flag raised. Freeman was deemed offside when Dest struck the ball… or was he?

The video assistant referee called down to the head referee, and upon review, Freeman was onside for a good goal and a 2-0 lead into halftime.

Freeman took after his former NFL playing father, Antonio Freeman, by taking a physical hit minutes before and coming back to strike.

“Obviously, I got hit in the head pretty hard (in the 38th minute), but I was able to get up and to continue playing,” Freeman said. “Sergino took a shot, and for me, it was to be able to kind of get the rebound in any way I can. I was able to put it in the back of the net… VAR took a really long time. I was very anxious to see whether it was a goal or not, and then when it was a goal, I looked back and I saw my teammates running at me, I was like, ‘oh, Lord,’ and I had to run (away to celebrate).”

Antonio Freeman had scored against the Seahawks in this stadium during his playing days, which made for a special moment when Alex Freeman got on the board playing his football for the United States.

“I think for me that is a full circle family moment,” Alex said. “I think for me it just shows how great the family tree is, and I think that just shows how he can be great, but I can be great in my own way as well. I think that just shows how amazing it is to have a dad who's successful and that can mentor me to be able to be ready for moments like these.”

The United States wasn’t nearly as dangerous in the second half, with just a few scattered corner kicks to their name and a long run by Balogun, and as the game wore on, Australia became bolder and bolder earning their own fair share of the possession.

Richards was brilliant in turning away several Australian forays into the box in the 73rd-75th minutes.

Australia was at its most dangerous into the 85th minute, with feeds into the box, deflected shots and a loose ball into a humongous sliding block by Tyler Adams.

The Americans defensive back line had not been tested much at all through the first 160 minutes of this tournament, but Richards, Ream and company earned their stars on Friday.

Yellow cards flew in the 89th minute, as the feistiness, frustration–and a bit of U.S. time wasting– began to boil over. Balogun earned his first of the tournament and the USMNT’s second of the game following a booking for Robinson in the 56th minute. Australian captain Harry Souttar and Jacob Italiano both were booked.

Richards took the Americans’ third yellow with a run-in in stoppage time, as the referee attempted to keep a lid on things through the final whistle.

All in all, six total yellow cards were handed out against teams that carried just one–Adams picked up one against Paraguay–into the match.

“It was an extremely tough game. Very physical. A lot of challenges,” Balogun said. “I think the ref done his best to try and contain it, but as you can see, this is a World Cup. It's expected for the passion to sometimes spill over, but I think we kept our cool and a really professional performance from us.”

Now, the rest of the day’s fate falls into the hands of Turkiye and Paraguay. If Turkiye loses or draws, it would be unable to match the United States and earn the group tiebreaker with a second group win next week against the Americans.

If the U.S. clinches the group tonight, it would open the door to rest a handful of players that picked up yellow cards–which are expunged after the group stage and every round of three games in the tournament–or those with nagging injuries like Pulisic.

However, that’s not up to the USMNT today, and the players still have they’re still dreaming of the ultimate prize.

“For me growing up, history is always–the winners are remembered, you know?” Balogun said. “I'm aware the country's supporting us, and the country’s proud of us in each game. We are doing things, but for me, I'm just focused on the prize.”