In a championship with more rest days between games than in 2022, the host nation USA has had plenty of time to enjoy themselves as a group since the convincing 4-1 victory over Paraguay in Los Angeles last Saturday.
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“It’s absolutely fantastic to be around these guys,” says striker Brenden Aaronson, adding that the players have been watching every game in the first rounds of the championship.
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“I always play video games with the guys – whether it’s Clash Royale on my mobile, PGA, FIFA or other games. We always enjoy ourselves together. The atmosphere against Paraguay was one of the best I’ve experienced from a USA crowd in a very, very long time. It was absolutely awesome – absolutely top class. Now we’re going to Seattle knowing that we’ll get the same support, so we’re really looking forward to it. It definitely gave us extra drive to play such a good game.”
Australia also started in style when they beat 2002 semi-finalists Turkey 2-0 in Vancouver, and they are very close to reaching the last eight of the second World Cup in a row.
“They’re going to attack aggressively and go high,” predicts defenseman Cameron Burgess, who praises the USA’s “huge talent pool.”
“We analysed Turkey as best we could and were well prepared for what their strengths were – both with and without the ball. It’s a big credit to the coaching staff and analysts who gave us all the details we needed, and to the guys who took the information and were able to translate it into action on the pitch. We know that the game will be different against the USA – both in the way they play and press. It’s up to us to be ready.”
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Line-ups and injury situation
Christian Pulisic impressed against Paraguay before the AC Milan striker had to be substituted at half-time with a calf injury. The attacker trained individually on Monday, but head coach Mauricio Pochettino characterized the prognosis for the captain as “good”. Midfielder Tyler Adams told everyone to “take it easy” when asked about his teammate.
“Christian will be ready,” Adams assures. “He got a knock a few days before the game, and I think he was kicked in the exact same place. When you go into the locker room for halftime, things can get stiff during those 15-20 minutes. But he’s doing well.”
Mo Toure, who was out for over a month earlier this year with a muscle injury, is a doubt for Australia after he suffered a cramp against Turkey.
“I thought it was worse than it was because it came completely out of the blue, and it could have been a tear,” the Norwich attacker said after the game.
Patrick Beach made his debut for the national team in that match, and the 22-year-old quickly showed why he has displaced 34-year-old Maty Ryan – with over 100 caps – as the first goalkeeper.
Predicted USA vs. Australia line-ups
United States (XI): Matt Freese – Alex Freeman, Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson – Sergino Dest, Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie – Malik Tillman, Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun
Australia (XI): Patrick Beach – Jacob Italiano, Alessandro Circati, Harry Souttar, Cameron Burgess, Jordan Bos – Connor Metcalfe, Aiden O’Neill, Paul Okon-Engstler – Nestory Irankunda, Tete Yengi
How to watch USA – Australia: TV channel and live stream
Kick-off on Friday is at 20:00 UK Time (21:00 Norwegian Time / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT). In the UK, the match will be broadcast live on BBC One. Streaming on a variety of devices is available via the BBC iPlayer app and the BBC Sport website.
World Cup 2026: USA – Australia – key figures
- This is the first World Cup meeting between the teams – they have previously played four friendly matches
- The United States have won the last two head-to-head meetings: 3-1 in June 2010 and 2-1 in October 2025, when Haji Wright scored twice on assists from Cristian Roldan
- The United States have won their last seven games played in Seattle, including all five at Seattle Stadium
- The 4-1 win over Paraguay was the USA’s biggest World Cup win in terms of goal difference – and the first time they scored at least four goals in a World Cup match
- The U.S. last won two World Cup games in a row in its first ever World Cup tournament in 1930 – including a three-goal victory over Paraguay
- Australia’s only previous World Cup match against a host country was in 1974, when they lost 0-3 to West Germany in Hamburg
- Australia have won three of their last four World Cup matches – that’s more than they won in their first 17 World Cup matches combined (two wins, four draws, eleven losses)
- The victories have come despite the fact that they have conceded 31 more shots than they have created in these three games (26 shots for, 57 against)
- The 30 shots Australia conceded against Turkey was the second-highest number they have had to endure in a World Cup match, beaten only by 31 against West Germany in 1974
- Nestory Irankunda became Australia’s youngest-ever World Cup goalscorer (20 years and 125 days) against Turkey, and could become the first under-21 player to score in his first two World Cup matches since Memphis Depay for the Netherlands in 2014
World Cup 2026: Our match favorite
USA wins 2-1 against Australia.
Australia had less than 29 percent possession and an expected goal value of 0.77 against Turkey. If the Socceroos are to prevent a goal-scoring USA team from reaching the last eight, they may have to resort to a typical “smash-and-grab” victory – that is, stealing the game with few chances.
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