{"id":713501,"date":"2026-06-19T12:05:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T12:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/713501\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T12:05:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T12:05:13","slug":"world-cup-what-to-know-us-back-in-action-versus-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/713501\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup what to know: US back in action versus Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

The United States is back in action Friday at the World Cup<\/a> against Australia, exactly one week after a stellar performance in its opener<\/a> that sent expectations for the squad soaring.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Brazil gets a second chance to look like one of the favorites against Haiti.<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen how much help the Americans will get from star forward Christian Pulisic in front of what\u2019s expected to be an electric crowd in Seattle. Pulisic has a sore left calf and has been working out separately from the team<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Brazil will try to improve following a lackluster 1-1 draw against Morocco last week. The Brazilians are five-time World Cup champions<\/a> but haven\u2019t won a title since 2002.<\/p>\n

Also on Friday, Scotland faces Morocco and Turkey takes on Paraguay.<\/p>\n

What to watch Friday<\/p>\n

United States vs. Australia, 2 p.m. in Seattle, Fox\/Telemundo\/Peacock
\nScotland vs. Morocco, 5 p.m. in Foxborough, Mass., Fox\/Telemundo\/Peacock
\nBrazil vs. Haiti, 7:30 p.m. in Philadelphia, Fox\/Telemundo\/Peacock
\nTurkey vs. Paraguay, 10 p.m. in Santa Clara, Calif., FS1\/Telemundo\/Peacock<\/p>\n

U.S. tries for encore performance against talented Australia<\/p>\n

The Americans are looking for a suitable encore after one of the country\u2019s best performances on a World Cup stage. Folarin Balogun scored two goals while Gio Reyna added another<\/a> in a 4-1 win over Paraguay that exceeded most fans\u2019 expectations.<\/p>\n

Pulisic was often the catalyst while the U.S. scored three goals in the first half, but he came off at halftime after feeling stiffness from a calf injury incurred in training. The Milan winger joined his U.S. teammates for a pre-warmup huddle Thursday while wearing a compression sleeve on his calf, then went inside to do individual work in the gym.<\/p>\n

Midfielder Weston McKennie said he did not know much about Pulisic\u2019s recovery, but that he hopes he will be able to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know he really wants to be in, and he\u2019s doing everything that he can, and the staff is doing everything that they can as well,\u201d McKennie said. \u201cBut, that\u2019s also another question that\u2019s better to ask him than me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia also has momentum after its impressive 2-0 win over Turkey. Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe scored for the Socceroos, who are playing in their sixth straight World Cup and seventh overall.<\/p>\n

Morocco favored against Scotland<\/p>\n

Morocco has been an ascending soccer power, particularly after a run to the semifinals in the 2022 World Cup. The team has improved so much that its 1-1 draw against powerhouse Brazil was a slight disappointment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t come to the U.S. to just play against Brazil,\u201d Morocco midfielder Azzedine Ounahi said. \u201cWe came in to go even farther than we did in Qatar in 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scotland has put itself in good position to advance to the knockout round for the first time after a 1-0 win over Haiti in its opener, but Morocco should be a considerably tougher opponent.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgainst difficult opponents we have to be very good,\u201d Scotland coach Steve Clarke said. \u201cWe\u2019re a little more comfortable as underdogs. \u2026 Sometimes Scotland prefers it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brazil works to rebound vs. Haiti<\/p>\n

The Brazilians were outplayed early before Vin\u00edcius J\u00fanior\u2019s 32nd-minute goal helped them rally for a draw against Morocco. Coach Carlo Ancelotti<\/a> said through an interpreter that the team was \u201ca bit anxious at the beginning. Nerves were all over the place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beware the Rocky curse: Brazilian fans at World Cup in Philadelphia heed warning not to put team gear on statue<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Brazil should have a big talent advantage over Haiti, even with star Neymar ruled out because of a calf injury. The Brazilians will be under pressure to secure a lopsided win after the uninspiring performance against Morocco.<\/p>\n

For many Haitian fans, there were mixed emotions in a country that has long had a soft spot for Brazil\u2019s soccer team.<\/p>\n

Turkey, Paraguay both need wins<\/p>\n

Turkey and Paraguay are both in need of a win as they try to escape the Group D basement.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, Paraguay\u2019s fans weren\u2019t happy with the team\u2019s lopsided loss to the United States. Mauricio scored Paraguay\u2019s lone goal against the Americans, and the team hopes he\u2019ll be able to deliver again.<\/p>\n

Turkey is in the World Cup for the first time in 24 years. The team maintained 72% of possession against Australia and outshot the Socceroos 30-9 but couldn\u2019t manage to score.<\/p>\n

Stats of the day<\/p>\n

All five goals in Thursday\u2019s Switzerland vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina game<\/a> were scored in the 74th minute or later.<\/p>\n

AP\u2019s Kyle Hightower and Andrew Destin contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The United States is back in action Friday at the World Cup against Australia, exactly one week after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":713502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[166971,122488,23,56978,86471,154004,3,42270,21,19,307611,22,20,25,307609,24,90221,121394,84938,307610],"class_list":["post-713501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-2026-fifa-world-cup","tag-2026-world-cup","tag-america","tag-christian-pulisic","tag-folarin-balogun","tag-gio-reyna","tag-news","tag-team-usa","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-united-states-australia","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-us-world-cup","tag-usa","tag-usmnt","tag-weston-mckennie","tag-world-cup","tag-world-cup-results"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=713501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=713501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=713501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=713501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}