Ricardo Pepi delivers as USMNT's "next man up" at World Cup | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

SEATTLE – Mauricio Pochettino and the US men’s national team speak often about how special Christian Pulisic is and how uniquely important he is to their group, both on and off the field.

So when an injury ruled the superstar attacker out for Friday’s 2026 FIFA World Cup Group D clash vs. Australia, they didn’t even try to replace him.

Pochettino changed his side’s shape instead, shifting from their usual 3-4-2-1 possession setup to a 3-5-2 formation with Ricardo Pepi brought on to partner Folarin Balogun up top.

A move like that is always a gamble, especially in such a tight timeframe. But it paid out big for ‘Poch’ & Co., as Pepi and Balogun gave the Socceroos back line fits, instigating the early own goal that tipped the game state in the Yanks’ direction en route to a 2-0 victory that clinches a place in the tournament’s knockout stages.

“The next man up was ready,” said Pepi postgame.

“We knew that if we were able to just press them, that they would give us a ball, and I feel like that's what we did today.”

Long time coming

For a player controversially left off the 2022 World Cup roster despite his substantial contributions to the USMNT’s qualification campaign, it was sweet redemption.

“To get a start in the World Cup, in front of my family, in front of our fans, it was an amazing feeling,” said the FC Dallas product, “and most importantly, we got the win.”

Now 23, Pepi has walked a winding road across Europe since winning the No. 1 spot on MLSsoccer.com’s 22 Under 22 rankings in 2021 and making a record-breaking, reported $20 million transfer to German Bundesliga side FC Augsburg a few months later.

Friday’s display offered vindication of the El Paso, Texas native’s own resilience after the crushing disappointment of Qatar 2022, and the US coaching staff’s belief despite his injury-plagued season at PSV Eindhoven.

“Ricardo, for me, is one of the greatest strikers,” said Pochettino postgame. “He was suffering in the last year too many injuries and problems that didn't allow him to develop and to evolve and to be with us a little bit more time. That was a problem, but always we trusted him. Now, working with us, I think he's getting better and better every day.

“He can play with another striker, he can play alone, he has an unbelievable capacity to create chances and score goals. Yes, today, him and Folarin made an unbelievable show for the team. We are so happy with both.”

Scrappy display

With just 25 touches and only one shot, Pepi’s was the type of performance that doesn’t pop on the statistics pages, particularly in terms of his selfless off-ball running and pressing of the Aussie center backs.

Yet the 2021 MLS Young Player of the Year's contributions were vital just the same.

“We created some problems for the defense,” he explained. “It was a very, very intense game, and they were closing a lot of space in the midfield, so it was difficult to get a lot of shots on target, but at the end of the day, we gave them a hard time. So I think it was an important job to do today.

“They decided to just cover up the spaces in between, and leave a lot of spaces behind, so we were really focused on making those runs behind and getting in behind them, and creating something from that. So I feel like we exploited them well, and we were able to do our thing.”

More Pepi to come?

Six points from six eases the pressure around next week’s group-stage finale, a June 25 duel with Türkiye in Los Angeles (10 pm ET | FOX, Telemundo, Peacock).

Might Pepi get another runout to spread minutes and stoke further chemistry among this talented squad? It certainly seems so.

“Today with the possibility to play with two strikers, [we were] trying to pin the three center backs, and using the pocket in behind the two midfielders,” said Pochettino.

“You have to move the ball quick from one side to another, and this triangle with, on one side Antonee [Robinson], Pepi and Malik [Tillman], then on the other Weston [McKennie], Sergino [Dest] and Balo, with the possibility to also invert the position – to play from our positions, but feeling free to change, to move, to create all the dynamics, and try to not to give reference to the opponents.

“That approach worked really well.”