World Cup co-hosts USA aim to keep the party going as they take on Australia in Seattle on Friday after kicking off the tournament with a crushing defeat of Paraguay. But they will be wary of an Australia side that also got their campaign started with a famous victory. Follow our live, minute-by-minute coverage.
USA winger Christian Pulisic will miss the key Group D game against Australia due to injury, after training separately from his teammates this week , coach Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed. Ricardo Pepi, who came off the bench in the Paraguay game, replaces Pulisic as the only change.
The starting XIs
USA: Matt Freese; Alex Freeman, Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson; Tyler Adams, Malik Tillman; Sergino Dest, Weston McKennie, Ricardo Pepi; Folarin Balogun
Australia: Patrick Beach; Jacob Italiano, Alessandro Circati, Harry Souttar, Cameron Burgess, Jordan Bos; Mathew Leckie, Aiden O’Neill, Paul Okon-Engstler, Nishan Velupillay; Mohamed Toure
7 minutes of added time
The goal is given! USA 2-0 Australia!
There were two US players offside when Dest blasted a shot that was deflected by the Australian defence… but Freeman, who rushed forward and headed the ball into an empty net, was not one of them.
USA get a second! Or did they?
VAR is checking for offside.
Physios on the field
Physios come on after a collision between Freeman and Okon-Engstler, who are taken off the pitch but both look OK to continue.
Circatti booked for rash tackle
Circati is booked for a late challenge on Tillman, who’s all over the Australian defence.
The hydration break was welcome. Still, one wonders whether the locals can keep up their ferocious tempo for 90 minutes.
All credit to Balogun for that opening goal. Photo: Reuters
Freeman saves
A good cross by Leckie forces Freeman to slide and send the ball out for a corner, which comes to nothing.
Still, that’s better from Australia.
Freese doesn’t freeze
The US goalie does well to get to a long ball ahead of Touré.
Bos was booked earlier for laying a hand on McKennie’s face, in the game’s first yellow card.
Bos blocks
The Socceroos’ defender blocks a dangerous McKennie header. The locals are pressing for a second.
Leckie almost hits back immediately
Australia are almost level!
A clever pass finds Leckie unmarked in the middle and he fires from a distance with the outside of his boot, the ball just skirting the post.
Own goal! USA 1-0 Australia
Balogun strikes again!
A brilliant run down the left flank, he drives into the box and taps the ball to Pepi… only for Australia’s Burgess to attempt a desperate interception and send the ball into his own net.
Balogun’s first touch a foul
McKennie crosses a good ball into the box but the referee sees a Balogun foul.
Robinson is busy down the left flank but his cross bounces off Italiano. The US forwards are pressing well.
We’re off!
A first shot for Australia’s Touré after Freeman gives away a cheap ball, but Freese saves.
The teams
The big news — that the co-hosts had feared — is that their key forward Christian Pulisic is out.
The injury that forced him off during the opening game against Paraguay is apparently more serious than first indicated. Ricardo Pepi takes his place.
USA: Matt Freese; Alex Freeman, Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson; Tyler Adams, Malik Tillman; Sergino Dest, Weston McKennie, Ricardo Pepi; Folarin Balogun
Australia: Patrick Beach; Jacob Italiano, Alessandro Circati, Harry Souttar, Cameron Burgess, Jordan Bos; Mathew Leckie, Aiden O’Neill, Paul Okon-Engstler, Nishan Velupillay; Mohamed Toure
Echoes of an unfriendly ‘friendly’
In October, the US earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory against a physical Australia side in a friendly that coach Pochettino said was anything but.
That’s when the Argentinian coach famously told his players at half-time: “We’re American, we don’t take shit.”
Welcome to our liveblog
Few would have predicted that tonight’s game could decide who tops Group D, but the co-hosts’ demolition of Paraguay followed by the Socceroos’ humbling of Turkey makes whoever wins this game the firm favourites to progress in first place.
The skill and swagger with which the US dismantled Paraguay has rightly prompted a wave of excitement among their fans, which the side will seek to channel in Seattle.
But Australia pose a significant threat: they are physically imposing, well-drilled defensively and quick and clinical on the counter, all of which they showed against Turkey.
