Pochettino Proved His Squad Does Not Need Pulisic. Popovic Cannot Say the Same About His Plan.
Christian Pulisic sat this one out with a calf injury, and Mauricio Pochettino’s team barely noticed. The United States beat Australia 2-0 at Lumen Field in Seattle on June 20, 2026, in their Group D match at the 2026 World Cup, and the result raises a question for Tony Popovic that a back-five setup and three half-time changes never came close to answering.
Here is the direct answer. Cameron Burgess turned a Folarin Balogun cross into his own net in the 11th minute. Alex Freeman headed in a deflected Sergino Dest effort in the 43rd, confirmed only after a VAR check. The U.S. did not need a second-half shot to matter. They move to six points and the top of Group D, while Australia drop to second on three and now must wait on other results to know what they need against Paraguay.
Make no mistake, the absence that should worry Popovic tonight is not the one in the United States lineup.
Start with what worked for Pochettino, because the logic behind it was already proven before kickoff. Leaving Pulisic out for a calf issue and trusting Ricardo Pepi to lead the line was not a reach. Pepi had earned the chance, and the team around him did not need rescuing. The U.S. controlled 62 percent of possession and out-passed Australia 523 to 310, numbers that come from a system functioning with or without one individual star.
The own goal made the case for itself. Balogun ran the left side, drove a low ball across the box, and Burgess turned it past his own keeper trying to cut out the danger before it reached Pepi. That is not luck repeating itself. That is a team creating enough pressure that defenders start making mistakes under it.
Popovic’s setup carried real logic too, even in defeat. Sitting in a five-man back line against the co-hosts in front of a packed, hostile crowd is a defensible plan against a side this talented. The problem was not the structure itself. It was that Australia never found a way to threaten in transition, managing only three shots in ninety minutes for a combined 0.35 expected goals.
Popovic made three changes at the break, and nothing changed. Still, here is the thing about that second half. Australia did eventually find pockets of space and won some encouraging duels late on, including a flurry of half-chances after the 80th minute that Harry Souttar and Jason Geria both nearly turned into something. None of it mattered with the U.S. already two goals clear and content to sit on what they had.
The number that follows Popovic into the Paraguay match is stark. Australia have now gone two matches without scoring from open play, relying on whatever scraps come from set pieces and broken transitions, and they no longer control their own fate in the group.
For Pochettino, the challenge waiting now is bigger than this performance suggests. The U.S. have scored six goals in two matches and topped a group at a home World Cup for the first time since 1930, and expectations have shifted from hope to demand overnight. Getting Pulisic healthy for the knockout rounds matters, but proving this squad can create chances against a side that actually presses, rather than one that sat in a low block all night, is the real test still ahead.
Pochettino leaves Seattle with his team through to the knockouts and a forward pool deep enough to survive an injury to its best player. Popovic leaves needing help from Paraguay just to control his own group-stage fate. Pochettino’s job is not just safe. It is building toward something. Popovic’s job is about to get a lot more complicated, starting with the goals his team has not scored.