With Knick Fever finally dying down the window of opportunity for overreaction and angst was opened for the United States’ soccer team as they prepared for their second World Cup match in Seattle. With an injury to their top player that became a storyline as the week since its opener progressed ultimately ending in a last-minute decision that he would not be available after all, the doomsayers dominated talk shows and social media yesterday morning, all but predicting somehow the underwhelming results of the last seven tournaments was all but assured.
Then they actually played the match. And as FOX 32 Chicago’s
The Americans are moving on. Two first-half goals were enough as the U.S. beat Australia 2-0 to move on to the knockout stage. The Americans’ offense showed up early with two first-half goals, even as the United States played without star Christian Pulisic.
For the second game in a row, the United States benefited from an own goal. The first goal of the win over Paraguay was an own goal, too. It’s becoming a habit for the U.S. to force goals by any means necessary.
According to ESPN, that was the fifth own goal in favor of the United States in FIFA World Cups. That’s second-most by any team in history, behind France’s six. The USMNT is also the first team in Men’s FIFA World Cup history to benefit from an own goal in two matches in a row.
It’s important. Not only does that goal put the Americans ahead, it also puts opposing teams on their heels right away. It raised the stakes for Australia, and forced them to get a bit more aggressive.
And, there could still be more celebrations to come for the U.S…With Friday’s win, the United States have officially moved on to the knockout round of the 2026 World Cup.
And as USA TODAY’s Victoria Hernandez later reported, those same Paraguyans who were thoroughly vanquished at SoFi provided the cherry on top of the Juneteeth sundae:
(T)he Stars and Stripes then needed Paraguay to defeat or draw Turkey on Friday night to win the group. Paraguay came through against Turkey, despite playing with 10 men for much of the game. Matías Galarza put Paraguay on the board in the second minute with the fastest goal of the World Cup so far.
It’s not like the United States has been pure dogcrap before. They famously advanced during the 1994 Cup which was exclusively hosted here, only to be knocked out in the Round of 16 by a dominant Brazil team.
(T)he U.S.…advance(s) to play the best third-place team from one of the Groups: B, E, F, I, or J.
Right now that’s a list that includes Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a tie and a loss and a -3 goal differential two matches in, plus one-loss teams from Ecuador, Senegal and Jordan yet to play a second match. They may all yet be lapped by the Netherlands, who played a competitive 2-2 draw with Japan in their opener and at least have some top-notch players on their roster. But as this tournament continues to show, surprises are rampant, and those other squads don’t scare me one lick.
Sure, the U.S. could eventually be a victim of one of those surprises themselves. But at least for now, let’s enjoy the spoils of victory, shall we?
Courage…