The United States World Cup team clinched a spot in the knockout stage with a 2-0 victory over Australia in Seattle on Friday, a result that pushed the Americans into first place in Group D while leaving Australia to complain about the officiating and the machinery around the match. The win was the United States' second in as many games in the World Cup, and the first time since the inaugural World Cup in 1930 that the United States has won back-to-back World Cup games.
Who Got the Breaks
The opening goal came in the 10th minute when Flo Balogun’s pass hit Australia's Cameron Burgess and was directed into the net for an own goal. That gave the Americans the lead early, and it was the first time in World Cup history that a team benefited from own goals in back-to-back games. The second U.S. goal came late in the 43rd minute after a free kick was stopped and Alex Freeman headed the ball in. Officials initially ruled the play offside, but a VAR check reversed the call and the goal stood.
Freeman, the youngest player on the roster at 21-years-old, scored his first World Cup goal. The United States had possession of the ball for over 60% of the time through 71 minutes, compared with nearly 30% for Australia. The numbers tell the story of who controlled the match and who spent most of the night chasing it.
What the Table Says
With the 2-0 record, the United States is in first place with six points, while Australia remains with three and in second place. Both Paraguay and Turkey, who face off on Friday to potentially determine the USA's group fate, are winless with zero points. The United States would clinch a Group D victory, and a favorable draw in the Round of 32, if Paraguay either beats or ties with Turkey. That game kicks off at 11 p.m. ET. The top two finishers from each of the 12 groups advance, as well as the eight-best third-place finishers. The United States will take the pitch back in Los Angeles against Turkey next Thursday.
Before the game, it was announced that Christian Pulisic would not play after suffering a calf injury last week. The Americans said they hardly missed a beat without him.
The Officials and the Fallout
Australia forward Nestory Irankunda criticized referee Felix Zwayer after the loss, saying the referee had a "stinker." Irankunda said, "If you look at how the referee was today, [there’s] not much I can say about that," and added, "The ref was having a stinker today, but I mean it is what it is. He was giving every call to the USA. I get it, but at the same time, we know there’s two teams on the field, so you have to give the calls both ways and he didn’t do that today."
Australia manager Tony Popovic also criticized Zwayer. Popovic said, "I thought the referee gave too many fouls away, in all honesty. Sometimes you didn’t have to do much to win a foul, and on the other occasions you you had to do a fair bit to get one." He added, "Today was I wouldn’t say the best day for the referee. Certainly we felt we were Australia today with the referees." Popovic also said, "I’m not sure on that one. We felt that, but unfortunately that didn’t go our way," after questioning the decision to let the second U.S. goal stand.
Australia assistant coach Paul Okon said, "From what we understood, he probably impeded Beachy," referring to goalkeeper Patrick Beach, "But, of course, the VAR decided differently."
Popovic was seen getting into a heated exchange with the match officials after the game ended and was seen approaching German match official Felix Zwayer after the game, with urgency. Zwayer, the German official, is 45 and pulled up with a cramp toward the end of the U.S. win. He required help from both the USA’s Folarin Balogun and Australia's Aiden O'Neill, who stretched out his left leg after Zwayer fell to the turf.
Tensions boiled over late in the match when a physical altercation broke out. Australia's Harry Souttar grabbed the USA's Folarin Balogun in what commentators described as a "rear naked choke." Zwayer regained control by issuing yellow cards to Balogun, Souttar and Australia's Jacob Italiano. Australia received four yellow cards, while the U.S. received three.
Despite the complaints, Popovic gave credit to the Americans and said his players looked "sluggish" on Friday. He said, "I don't know if it's the occasion, but we looked sluggish, heavy-legged ... They won every duel, they won every second ball and when you do that, it makes it very difficult to gain any momentum. And then we conceded two soft goals," and added, "When you think, you know, this noise here — host nation — I think the players show how good they are in the second half, but obviously at this level, you can't give away that much in the first."