USA vs Australia live online: goals, score, updates and highlights | World Cup 2026

The US will want to add to this lead and give the fans the spectacle they deserve but they don't have to force anything. Right now they are knocking it around the back line making the Aussies chase. 

The two goal scorers from the first game are in for Australia and let's see if that makes them a little more attacking in this second 45. 

A couple of subs for the Aussies. It's Geria, Metcalf and Irankunda in for Burgess, Veupillay and Toure. 

WE ARE BACK UNDERWAY FROM SEATTLE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF ACTION!!!

The players are coming out of the tunnel and let's see what kind of adjustments the Aussies make out of halftime. 

Fans, commentators and players from around the world are marveling at the impressive atmosphere here from Seattle. 

Dest took the shot on from the top of the area, and Freeman's goal was flagged for offside but upon review he was a half step in front of the last defender. 

It really was a perfect half for the US. They controlled the game, possession and the chances in the first half. They got their first goal off another own goal following a speedy run from Balogun on the left side. It was Burgess who got the last touch and Seattle went wild in the 11th minute. 

WE ARE AT THE HALFTIME BREAK FROM SEATTLE WITH THE US UP 2-0!!!

Freeman pushes all the way up into the area and drops it back to Dest who let it loose with a low driven shot that was stopped by Beach. 

Free kick for the US after Bos got the ball with his arm. Nothing happening for Australia in the final minutes first half. 

Seven minutes of stoppage time here in this first half. Australia need to get something going before the half just to have something to hang their hats on at the break. 

OFFSIDE!!!

Set piece from the training ground as Robinson found Dest at the top of the area and his shot was deflected up and nodded home from Freeman!

Dest with a bit of magic on the right side and that will result in a free kick from outside the area. 

We must be fair here. The US have the goal advantage, and they have had the majority of the possession but they haven't had much joy creating chances since the goal. 

Both players back on the pitch after a scary looking collision. 

Freeman and Okon-Engstler clash in mid air as both were going after the ball on the near touchline. Both getting some extra attention after a clash of heads. 

The US not allowing any space or time for the Aussies to pass the ball out of the back. That could be trouble for the Socceroos. 

Australia just struggling to deal with the pace of the US wingers and that is nullifying the block that the Aussies have implemented. 

The US just looks more eager to get to those 50/50 balls in the middle of the park. 

Ball sent in looking for Richards but a whistle goes for a foul on the US. 

Another yellow card shown, this time for Circati, who tripped up Tillman and another dangerous free kick from the left side of the midfield. 

Tillman sent the corner in and Richards was the closest to it but that ball in was just a little too high. 

Italiano tried to clear the ball that should have been easy but he made a meal of it and concedes a corner. 

The chants of USA ring around the stadium here in Seattle. 

Robinson pushing up the left touchline and his cross goes disappointingly over the crossbar and out for a goal kick. 

WE ARE BACK IN PLAY AFTER THE SHORT BREAK. 

WE ARE AT THE HYDRATION BREAK HERE FROM SEATTLE!!!

This time the whistle blows for a foul on Australia before that ball could enter the box. 

Corner swung in from Australia and they were looking for their 6'6" Souttar on the back post. Another corner to come. 

Leckie with a ball into the middle from the right side and it was Richards who needed to get a touch to concede a corner. 

Adams in the middle of the park and he played it over the top for Balogun who should have done better taking that ball down with the keeper closing in. 

Australia offering nothing in attack lately. The US are possessing, they are creating and they are dominating 20 minutes in. 

Dest gave it away but got it back with some good pressure and laid it off to McKinnie who had it swiped away from his feet in the area. 

Wasn't the best of balls but McKinnie stuck a leg out and got a piece of that with his back to goal but that went sailing high of the target. 

McKinnie skips around Bos and the Aussie defender dragged him down and for that he will be shown a yellow card. Free kick from this near touchline right in front of the US bench. 

Corner kick for the US, and Tillman swings it in right on to the head of McKinnie who nodded it frame but it was blocked off the line by Bos. Another great chance from the US and Australia look a little rattled after the early goal. 

Lay off from Velupillay for Leckie at the top of the area and he tried it with the outside of the foot, but it sailed it well wide of the target. 

It was Balogun speeding past Italiano on the left touchline and he had time to look up and put a tricky ball into the 6 yard box. Burgess will be seeing that final touch in his sleep tonight. 

That's how you have to break down a team playing with such a low block. It was a lovely bit of build up and the US will have to try and replicate more of that. 

1-2 from Dest and McKinnie on the near side and it was Dest who was sent in from McKinnie on the end line. His shot was headed on target but Burgess made himself big and blocked it with the body. 

It was a clumsy challenge in the middle of the park from Leckie and he's lucky to get away from the scene of the crime without being shown a booking. 

McKinnie sends it into the area from the right side and that took a dangerous bounce but a whistle for a foul on the US bails out the Aussies. 

It's a very tight backline from Australia and they have all of their guys behind the ball when the US have it in the midfield. They aren't going to give anything easy up in this game. 

Robinson pushes up for the first time today, and he thought he earned himself a corner but a goal kick was awarded by the ref. 

Who will step up and be the creator with Pulisic on the bench? They need some one to play that role. Look for Pepi, look for McKinnie to have a little bit of added responsiblity. 

Toure with a run to the right side of the box after a giveaway from the US and he takes it on the first touch but it was an easy save for Freese on the front post. 

Incredible atmosphere from Seattle and the commentators are saying it's one of the best they have ever seen. 

WE ARE UNDERWAY FROM SEATTLE!!! 

Huge matchup in Group D with the winner taking the top spot and maybe just maybe winning the group depending on what happens in the Turkiye-Paraguay match later tonight. 

The players are out on the pitch and Australia's anthem rings around the stadium here in Seattle. 

The 12s are ready

They are called the 12s for the Seahawks, but it just so happens that it works out perfectly for the US. The XI on the pitch will need a little extra boost from the extra 80,000 or so around the pitch. Many of them will be Aussies, but the red white and blue fans will be loud and proud here from Seattle today. 

Socceroos 5-4-1 

This is a defensive Australia side. Stu Holden said they play a lot like Paraguay who was also a good defensive side but the US put 4 on them. Popovic is going with Beach in goal, Bos, Burgess, Souttar, Circati and Italiano in the back. Velupillay, Okon-Engstler, O'Neill and Leckie in behind Toure up top. Metcalf and Irankunda the two goal scorers against Turkiye start this match on the bench. 

Assist leader out

I don't think I need to sit here and remind you just how important Pulisic is to this US side. He is the star, and he is the engine in the attack. Not only that, but he is also the US team’s all time assist leader in the World Cup. Who is going to fill those shoes today in Seattle.

Jameis is bringing the noise

If there's a party to be had, you want Jameis Winston at the party. The NFL QB has been one of the faces of this World Cup and he was getting the crowd amped for this massive match up in Seattle. 

Richard's return

Chris Richards returned to the XI after suffering an injury at the end of the Premier League season. He missed the last few games of the league campaign, and the Conference League Final against Rayo Vallecano. The was named to the squad but missed the two tune ups and there were concerns around his fitness. He started against Paraguay, and had a perfect match. Every challenge he made was spot on. On top of that he didn’t miss a single pass in the 4-1 win. There was a lot to be excited about last week, but Richards might have been the best bit of news.

USMNT's 4-2-3-1

Poch is going with Freese in goal, Freeman, Richards, Ream and Robinson in the back. Tillman and Adams are the holding midfielders with Dest, McKinnie and Pepi on the left side right behind Balgun as the No. 9. 

Mexico first to win group 

We are just over a week into the tournament but we already have a team that have qualified for the next round and clinched the top spot in the group. That team would be Mexico who beat South Korea on Thursday night and secured themselves passage into the round of 32. The US and Australia both have a chance to do the same with a win today, 

How the hosts are fairing 

So far so good for the host nations. Mexico just won their second straight game to start their World Cup campaign. Defensively they are playing nearly perfect and they have the right amount of attacking flair to make their fans believe. The US can continue their dream start to the World Cup today with a win over Australia that would clinch them the group. Meanwhile Canada had a historic day putting 6 past Qatar as they took the lead in Group B. The winner of that group will come down to who wins the Canada Switzerland match next week. 

Who are the favroites after 9 days

Like the Rankings, the oddsmakers favorites have seen some changes at the top and in the middle. The USMNT came into this tournament as 60/1 long shots according to Bet365. They are still long shots, but that has dropped to 41/1 long shots after their impressive win over Paraguay. Australia are 81/1 long shots but who knows how that could change if they pull off a win here from Seattle. France take the top spot paying 9/2 while Spain dropped to 7/1 odds after their draw with Cape Verde. England are also 7/1 to win it all while Argentina are 9/1 to repeat. 

FIFA World Ranking

The ever-changing FIFA Rankings have seen some tweaks and some changes over the last 8 days. One thing remains the same, and that is that Argentina continue to top the table after their 3-0 win to start their World Cup campaign. France have jumped Spain and England remain fourth. Portugal have dropped two spots, as Brazil and Morocco sit in 5th and 6th while the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium round out the top 10. Mexico are 11th after their win over Korea last night and the US are sitting in 15th place. The Aussies aren’t too far behind. They are currently 22nd in the FIFA World Rankings and can boost their position with a win over the USMNT today. 

Australia XI

The Socceroos are out on the pitch and warming up. Coach Popovic has his XI for this massive match up and it looks a little something like this. 

World Cup 2026

USMNT confirmed lineup vs Australia: Mauricio Pochettino’s XI for crucial Group D match

Pulisic update

There was a question of would he or won't he. This is the biggest game of the group stage, and if it wasn't something that the US are worried could get worse he would be out there. Poch and his staff are going to proceed with plenty of caution. Our Williams Gittens has more. 

Socceroos World Cup history 

The Socceroos get their name for obvious reasons. Don't think I need to explain the origins too much but I might need to break down the Aussies history in this competition. They have been in the World Cup seven times, including each of the last six tournaments. They first made the World Cup in 1974 but then had to wait until 2006 to make their return. They have made it past the group stage just twice in their history. The first of which came in their return to the World Cup in 2006 but they lost to Italy by a penalty in the 95th minute in the round of 16. They made it past the group stages in Qatar as well but would eventually lose to Argentina 2-1 in the round of 16. Both of those teams that beat Australia went on to win the World Cup. 

World Cup 2026

USMNT vs Australia: strengths, weaknesses and the Socceroos threat in World Cup 2026

USMNT vs Australia: strengths, weaknesses and the Socceroos threat in World Cup 2026

Maybe you weren't watching that game back in October. Perhaps you didn’t stay up to watch the Aussies beat Türkiye last week. You may not know everything thing there is to know about this Australia team, but lucky for us, Roddy Cons does. 

Last match up

It wasn't too long that these two teams met for a friendly match from Colorado. The match was played in October of last year and the Aussies went up a goal to the good in the 19th minute thanks to a Jordan Bos goal. Christian Pulisic was subbed out of that game in the first half after suffering a minor knock, but Haji Wright equalized in the 33rd minute. Wright doubled his account in the 51st minutes and the US held on for a 2-1 win from Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. 

Seattle Stadium 

If Sofi Stadium was wild last week, just wait until today. We are in Seattle Stadium which is home of the Seattle Seahawks. The fan base in Seattle is knows as the 12s and they played an instrumental part of the Seahawks Super Bowl run this season. They are the nosiest fans in the NFL, and the stadium here in the Pacific Northwest aids them with it's acoustics and its structure that locks in the noise. The first match was unlike anything we had seen for the USMNT in terms of support, but today it’s only going to get bigger and louder. 

Poch on US fans 

The anticipation and excitement was palpable in Sofi Stadium last week. The opening match of the USMNT's World Cup campaign was preceded by a star studded opening ceremony and the buzz carried over into the match. It helped that the US went up 1-0 early on but the energy in Sofi Stadium was incredible and Mauricio Pochettino sent a warning to the rest of the sports in the US, claiming they better watch out because soccer is coming. 

USMNT XI

Just one change in the XI from the game against Paraguay. It's the injured Pulisic out for Ricardo Pepi. While Captain America is out, Pepi is an incredible second option to replaced the AC Milan winger Here is the XI for Poch.

Freese

Dest

Richards

Adams

Robinson

McKinnie

Pepi

Ream

Freeman

Tillman

Balogun

Star watch: Australia 

When you look down the 26 man squad of Tony Popovic, you don't really see any stars of big clubs for the Aussies. Some play in the Championship in England. Some play in Italy or Champions League clubs from smaller countries around the continent but unless you really follow soccer, and Australian soccer at that, you won’t know a whole lot about this side. Nestroy Irankunda is the face of the future for Australia. He is 20 years old and playing for Watford in the Championship. After scoring 4 goals in the league he scored his first World Cup goal against Türkiye and will look to keep that going here tonight. 

Star watch: USA 

We could sit here and talk about Christian Pulisic all day long, but we have done that for a long time in the build up to this World Cup and to the Paraguay game. So lets shift focus a bit. Folarin Balogun snatched headlines in the 4-1 win over Paraguay with a first half brace, and looked like the most dangerous man on the pitch in the opener. He plays in Ligue 1 with Monaco and is coming off a season in which he scored 13 goals and served 3 assists in the league and scored 5 goals in the Champions League. The bigger the stage, the better Balogun plays. 

Poch pumped after win 

The entire nation is pumped about the possibility of this team making a historic run in a tournament co-hosted right here at home. Coach Poch is one of those believers, and after beating Paraguay he is not trying to limit expectations. He's going for it all, and he wants his team to believe that they can win it all after their showing in the first match. “We should dream without limits,” he said. “If I dream of touching the moon, maybe I can get close to the moon. If I only dream of getting close to it, I'll stay on Earth.”

US XI against Paraguay 

The US XI came out against Paraguay and attacked from the very start. The subs also came on and played well in the second half of the match, but I would be surprised if Mauricio Pochettino tinkered with the XI fro last week too much. Obviously with Pulisic out today, things will be a little different. This is what it looked like against Paraguay. What will it look like against Australia?

Freese 

Dest

Richards 

Adams 

Robinson

McKinnie 

Pulisic 

Ream 

Freeman 

Tillman 

Balogun

Group D Standings 

Coming into today, we see these two teams are at the top of the table and quite simply the winner of todays game will go to the top of the group and win it if the late game ends in a draw. Türkiye and Paraguay have their work cut out for them after round 1 losses and whoever losses that match later on tonight will have little to no chance of advancing to the Round of 32. Here is the remaining schedule in Group D. 

Schedule

Friday, June 19, 3 p.m. (Fox): United States vs. Australia, Lumen Field (Seattle)

Friday, June 19, 11 p.m. (FS1): Türkiye vs. Paraguay, Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara, California)

Thursday, June 25, 10 p.m. (Fox): Türkiye vs. United States, SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, California)

Thursday, June 25, 10 p.m. (FS1): Paraguay vs. Australia, Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara, California)

Last game: Australia 

Not much was expected from Australia coming into this World Cup campaign. They went up against a Türkiye side that many people were considering to be the top contender of the US in Group D. The Aussies showed their defensive capabilities by keeping a clear sheet on an attacking minded Türkiye side. Nestor Irankunda had a brilliant run into the area before slotting it past the Turkish keeper for the 1-0 in the 27th minute. The Aussies would double their lead with a Connor Metcalf goal in the 75th minute to close the match out and take three points in the first match of the tournament. 

Pulisic out against Australia

Christian Pulisic was pulled off at the halftime break of the Paraguay match and many thought it might have just been a precautionary move by Poch with a 3-0 lead coming out of the break. It turns out that he did take a knock to the calf which has been monitored throughout the week. He trained with the team over the last few days but has officially been ruled out of this match against Australia. It will be Ricard Pepi replacing him in the XI. 

Last game: USA

The Paraguay couldn't have gone much better if they gave coach Pochettion a pen and paper and asked him to write out the script. The USMNT put the first goal of their World Cup campaign on the board seven minutes into the match but it wasn’t a US player that got the first goal. It was Christian Pulisic creating on the left side but Bobadilla got the last touch and poked it into his own goal. Folarin Balogun had a first half brace with a couple of really good goals, and it was Gio Reyna finishing with the outside of the foot to put the cherry on top of a delicious performance from the USMNT.

We are live from the Pacific Northwest 

Hello everyone and welcome to Seattle, Washington where the USMNT have a chance to win the group just two match days in to this tournament, but so do the Socceroos who came up with what many consider a shock defeat of Türkiye. Now the two sides at the top of the group will go head to head for a chance to win the group. The fans, the players and the nation came out of the first game of the World Cup in full belief of this side, but a loss to Australia could cost them more than the top spot in the group, it was erase the belief that has been growing since the Paraguay game. 

USA vs. Australia: Round 2, Group D 

After one of the most convincing victories in the first round of group stages the USMNT gave fans reason to believe in this team. The hype is real, but now so is the expectation after seeing what this team is capable of. Today they have to keep the train rolling against an Australia team who is battling the US for the top spot in the group and AS English will be with you all afternoon providing live coverage, stats highlights and analysis of this crucial match up at the top of Group D.