Mauricio Pochettino was full of praise for the way his United States side adjusted tactically in their win over Australia on Friday.
USA won 2-0 at Seattle Stadium after an own goal from Cameron Burgess and a header from Alex Freeman, securing their place in the knockout stages of the World Cup.
USA have won two consecutive matches at the World Cup for the second time, and first since winning their first two ever matches in the competition in 1930, while they are the first team in the history of the World Cup to benefit from an own goal in two consecutive matches.
Pochettino made an enforced change to his line-up from their opening win over Paraguay, with Ricardo Pepi replacing injured talisman Christian Pulisic.
Pepi and Folarin Balogun, who both play up front, often switched positions between left-wing and striker.
The USA boss was impressed with how his team adapted to the change, as well as their willingness to press from the front.
“What I saw [was] a team that really believe in what it is doing with different plans and with a different approach,” Pochettino said.
“I think that capacity to adapt to the different demands of the game, and also our demand, like a coaching staff planning, different approach on the games. I think only I can say good and fantastic things about my players.
“They were fantastic.”
VICTORY CAM pic.twitter.com/odC6ttNySm
— U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team (@USMNT) June 19, 2026
Across the 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 editions of the World Cup, Australia averaged 13.2 shots per game, but taking into account only the 2022 and 2026 tournaments, the Socceroos have not had 10+ shots in a game once, averaging just 6.7 shots per match.
They managed just five attempts against USA, and head coach Tony Popovic, who surprisingly benched star winger Nestory Irankunda, believes fatigue played a role in his Australia side’s lacklustre performance.
“We didn’t want to go with the same XI,” said Popovic, who made two changes to his starting line-up. “And you could see why, probably, I should have made more.
“We knew it would be a difficult match; we know the power that the U.S. has. But we judge what we see at training as well, and how the players look; how they’ve recovered physically, emotionally from the match.
“We were slow to every ball, and we couldn’t really wrestle back any momentum, which made it difficult. And we conceded a couple of soft goals, really, for us, they were soft goals. We just looked flat and lethargic in the first half.”
Paraguay’s subsequent win over Tuurkiye means the USA are now sure of their place as Group D winners.
