SEATTLE – The U.S. Men’s National Team is set for its second match at the FIFA World Cup 2026, facing a confident Australia side at Seattle Stadium in Seattle, Wash. Kicking off at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT, the match will be carried live on FOX and Telemundo.
Follow along for live updates from today’s match.
PRE-GAME - The Lineups
Christian Pulisic is unavailable for today’s match due to injury. The lone change from the Paraguay match sees Ricardo Pepi earn his first World Cup start.
For the Socceroos, head coach Tony Popovic makes two changes from their victory against Türkiye, as the two goalscorers from that match—Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe—start on the bench. Like their first outing a week ago, captain and goalkeeper Mathew Ryan along with vice-captain and midfielder Jackson Irvine are available as substitutes.
PRE-GAME - Friendly Cascadia Confines
The USMNT returns to Seattle for the first time since a 2-1 Quarterfinal victory against Ecuador in the Copa América Centenario on June 16, 2016. The USMNT is an unblemished 6-0-0 at Seattle Stadium—its third-best winning percentage at any domestic stadium—and a near-perfect 9-1-1 all-time in Seattle.
PRE-GAME - USMNT Availability
As of Friday morning, Christian Pulisic’s availability is still to be determined for this afternoon’s FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage match between the U.S. Men’s National Team and Australia, USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino confirmed at his pre-match press conference Thursday afternoon at Seattle Stadium.
The remaining 25 players are good to go.
PRE-GAME - USMNT vs. Australia History
The United States and Australia have met on four prior occasions—all non-official matches - between 1992 and 2025. The lone Australia win came in the first meeting, a 1-0 contest at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla. in 1992. Since then, the USMNT has gone unbeaten against the Socceroos, settling for a scoreless draw in San Jose, Calif. in 1998 before picking up a pair of victories more recently—first a 3-1 win in Roodepoort, South Africa in 2010 just prior to the World Cup, and later a 2-1 come-from-behind victory in Commerce City, Colo. last October.
In the pair’s most recent meeting, striker Haji Wright recorded a brace and Cristian Roldan tallied two assists, while 17 of the 24 players on the matchday squad earned a spot on head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s final World Cup roster.
PRE-GAME - Australia Players to Watch
Popovic made the decision to bench captain and goalkeeper Mathew Ryan along with vice-captain and midfielder Jackson Irvine for his side’s opening World Cup match against Türkiye. The gamble paid off, as the pair’s replacements—22-year-old Beach in goal and 21-year-old Paul Okon-Engstler in midfield—made key contributions in Australia’s victory: Beach made a record-setting eight saves and Okon-Engstler provided the assist on Irankunda’s match-winner.
The pacey winger, Irankunda, made the most of his 61 minutes and 18 touches, scoring the winner to become Australia’s youngest World Cup goal scorer. Additionally, the Socceroos are bolstered by a stoutdefensive unit, composed of Feyenoord Rotterdam’s Jordan Bos, Parma Calcio 1913’s Alessandro Circati, Leicester City’s Harry Souttar and rising Colorado Rapids teenager Lucas Herrington.
Further up the pitch, Australia is anchored by midfielders Cristian Volpato of Sassuolo in Italy, Cammy Devlin of Scottish Premier League runners up Heart of Midlothian, and the New York City FC tandem of Aiden O’Neill and Kai Trewin—both teammates of USMNT goalkeeper Matt Freese. The Socceroos’ goalscoring presence is highlighted by 22-year-old Norwich City forward Mohamed Touré and the attack-minded duo of wingers Irankunda and Metcalfe, who both scored against Türkiye last time out.
PRE-GAME - The Socceroos
Australia is currently ranked 22nd in the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Rankings, its highest ranking since May 8, 2012. At the moment, the Socceroos are ranked as the third-highest AFC team, trailing only Japan (17) and Korea Republic (21).
After blitzing through AFC World Cup qualifiers with an 11-1-4 record and +31 goal differential between March 2024 and June 2025, Australia hit the pitch for 10 pre-World Cup tune-ups. Against a pool of nine unique teams from five different confederations boasting an average World Ranking of roughly 43, Australia went 5-4-1, notably losing against Mexico (May 30), Colombia (Nov. 18) and the United States (Oct. 14), picking up a draw against Switzerland (June 6) and securing victories against Canada (Oct. 10) and Cameroon (March 27).
The Socceroos earned their fifth World Cup match victory last weekend, shutting out a confident Türkiye side 2-0 at BC Place Vancouver thanks to eight saves from 22-year-old goalkeeper Patrick Beach—a record for an Australian goalkeeper in a World Cup and the most by any goalkeeper on his World Cup debut since 2002—and goals from 20-year-old Nestory Irankunda and FC St. Pauli man Connor Metcalfe. Despite only holding 28.3% possession—Australia’s lowest in a World Cup match—the contest was ultimately decided by Irankunda’s match-winning first-half strike as he became the Socceroos’ youngest World Cup goalscorer.
PRE-GAME - How to Watch
The match will be broadcast live on FOX with English commentary. Spanish commentary can be found on Telemundo and Peacock starting at 3 p.m. ET. Pregame coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET.
Fans can stream USMNT vs. Australia on the FOX One app with English commentary and Telemundo and Peacock with Spanish commentary starting at 3 p.m. ET. Pregame coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET.
Spanish-language commentary can be found on Fútbol de Primera. Coverage of the United States vs. Australia will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET.
