United States sealed top spot in Group D with a game to spare after they beat Australia 2-0 in their World Cup 2026 clash.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side got off to the perfect start, with Cameron Burgess’ own goal giving them the lead after 11 minutes. They went into the break 2-0 up, with Alexander Freeman nodding home following a deflection.
Australia started to get some chances in the second half, particularly after the hydration break. But USA managed to keep them out, securing top spot and a place in the knockout stages.
United States vs Australia analysis:
Different shape, same principles
Pochettino set his side up in a 3-5-2 on paper, a slight change from the norm. He had two natural strikers leading the line in Ricardo Pepi and Folarin Balogun. The former had replaced Christian Pulisic, who missed the match through injury.
But the United States maintained their principles despite the formation change, and this was seen in their opening goal. The co-hosts attracted the press before looking to find runners into the channel. Balogun attacked the space behind Jacob Italiano, driving into the box and cutting the ball back, leading to the own goal.
The United States were able to pin back Australia’s defence thanks to Pepi’s introduction, as Pulisic naturally wants to play as a third No.10 between the lines.
Pepi and Balogun pinned Australia’s three centre-backs extremely narrow. It meant that if they could bait the press, the United States could either find space between the lines or exploit the space behind the wing-backs.
With Pepi and Balogun pinning the three central defenders, it was difficult for Australia to jump out if Malik Tillman or Weston McKennie received the ball between the lines.
The American attacking midfielders were clever with their moment. They dropped deep at times to drag an opposition midfielder out, but also made runs into the vacated channels left by Australian wing-backs. They even crossed over to the opposite side to overload the spaces on the flanks.
Pochettino’s diagonal affordances
Another key principle of USA’s system under Pochettino is their willingness to play on a diagonal axis, looking to find their way inside the defensive lock. The United States aim to probe the opposition defensive unit to make decisions and provoke their behavious. They do this by looking to come inside whenever possible.
As this is a clear principle of play under Pochettino, the entire network of players are attuned to this line of thinking. So the opportunity for these passes are not only noticed more, but they’re also executed more frequently.
There were some brilliant opportunities to execute these patterns of play with USA’s change in shape. The wing-back received the ball, while the near-side pocket player drifted into the space and the near-side striker also placed themselves on the diagonal angle to create a staircase (Escadinha).
This opens up a larger pool of possibilites for this single passing action. Tillman, for example, can provide a dummy or flick into the path of Pepi, to accelerate the play inside. Or he can look to turn and drive inside himself.
Alexander Freeman stars
Alexander Freeman was named Man of the Match after scoring his first-ever World Cup goal at 21 years old.
Aside from his goal, though, the young defender impressed throughout. He showed why he is so highly-rated, thanks to his versatility in possession and defensive steel off the ball.
On the ball, Freeman often shifted between a more nominal right centre-back position and a wider right-back place on the outside of Nishan Velupillay. He even stepped up into midfield to form a temporary 2-2-6 shape.
Defensively, he was a huge part of USA’s first clean sheet in 10 games. He won four of his six aerial duels, six of his eight ground battles and made five clearances against Australia.
United States dig in
United States had 70% possession in the first half, with nine shots and 1.21 Expected Goals. But they had to dig in more in the second half, with Australia looking to find their way back into the match.
The co-hosts possession dropped to 54% in the second half, with just one shot. Australia, meanwhile, started to put crosses into the box, going from three in the first half to a whopping 16 after the break.
But the USA dealt with whatever Australia chucked at them. Their three centre-backs handled the crosses, while the likes of Tyler Adams, McKennie and Tillman were ready to snap at the heels of the opposition on second balls.
While Turkey are out of the World Cup, they could be USA’s toughest opponents. Both sides want to have the ball and control proceedings, which makes for an intriguing encounter.
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