FIFA World Cup 26™: What to look out for in USA v Australia 🇺🇸🇦🇺 | OneFootball

After impressive starts for both, USA and Australia meet at Seattle Stadium as they continue their FIFA World Cup 26™ campaigns.

This is what to look out for from this Group D encounter.

Who is playing today? 👀

Both USA and Australia were very impressive performers in their opening fixtures and sit on maximum points after one game.

The host nation got off to a dream start against Paraguay as Folarin Balogun scored a clinical brace and Giovanni Reyna capped things off with a delightful injury-time cherry on top to seal a 4-1 success.

Australia were big underdogs in their opener against Türkiye but were deserved victors too thanks to two excellent finishes from Nestory Irankunda (becoming his country's youngest World Cup™ goalscorer ever in the process) and Connor Metcalfe in a 2-0 win.

Continuing the perfect start and adding three points here for either side in the north-west would be enough to be sure of qualification.

Players to watch 🔥

Balogun hit the headlines for two ruthless finishes in USA's first game but there were plenty of other impressive performers who'll look to continue their strong start.

Weston McKennie pulled the strings in midfield and his vibrant energy will be key again, while there'll be hopes that Christian Pulisic's calf concern is nothing too significant as he looked to be playing with a freedom and joy again: he was electric on the left.

There was a major shock for the Socceroos' opener when veteran captain Mathew Ryan was dropped in favour of 22-year-old A-League goalkeeper Patrick Beach (winning just his third cap) but he vindicated coach Tony Popovic's decision with an outstanding performance and pulled off eight big saves.

There were also eyebrows raised when Jackson Irvine made way for Paul Okon-Engstler but he too justified the bold call and also claimed an assist for the opening goal against Türkiye.

Must-watch video 🎥

Some Australia legends are already immersing themselves in the local culture in Seattle.

Fun facts 📊

Our prediction 🔮