USMNT Growth, Player Availability Ahead of Australia Meeting | OneFootball

SEATTLE – Christian Pulisic’s availability is still to be determined for tomorrow’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 held this afternoon at Seattle Stadium.

Pochettino said he will meet with his medical staff and make a determination, one way or the other, later tonight.

“Christian is strong, with a great mentality, and he’s making a fantastic effort to be ready as soon as possible,” Pochettino said.

Pulisic left at halftime of the USA’s emphatic 4-1 win over Paraguay in the group stage opener at Los Angeles Stadium. His replacement, midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, was one of seven USMNT players to make his FIFA World Cup debut in the match. In fact, five players in Pochettino’s starting XI last Friday appeared in their first FIFA World Cup match, plus two more players – Berhalter and striker Ricardo Pepi – who came off the bench.

The number of U.S. debutants in the rousing victory shows the mix of fresh talent and veteran experience on Pochettino’s 26-player squad. Four years ago, the U.S. featured four of the five youngest lineups at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. This time around, the U.S. fielded the 13th youngest lineup in 38 matches the USMNT has played at the FIFA World Cup. That ranks just behind the XI that began the team’s 1994 World Cup opener against Switzerland, the last time a FIFA World Cup took place on home soil.

Like the U.S., Australia has grown in the four years since a Round of 16 exit. In Qatar, the Socceroos finished second in their group behind the eventual tournament runner-up, France, then faced the eventual champion, Argentina, in the knockout round. After conceding two goals, Australia put up a fight against La Albiceleste but fell 2-1 to officially end its 2022 run.

Now ranked 22nd in FIFA's world rankings, Tony Popovic’s group is well-organized, defensively sound and opportunistic in transition. Australia dispatched UEFA Playoff Path C winners, Türkiye, to open the tournament, winning 2-0 despite holding the lowest possession of any team so far at FIFA World Cup 2026 (28.3%).

“They are a very strong team and really believing in what they are doing,” Pochettino said.

The U.S. and Australia recently faced off on Oct. 14, 2025, a non-official match that the U.S. won 2-1 behind striker Haji Wright’s impressive brace and a pair of assists for Seattle Sounders star Cristian Roldan. The October win was part of a five-match unbeaten streak for the U.S. against World Cup-bound opponents, and the come-from-behind victory ended Australia’s 12-match unbeaten streak at the time.

“When we played them in Denver, [it] was really one of the most difficult games that we played in the run-up to today,” Pochettino said.

The U.S. and Australia enter Friday’s matchup as the top two teams in the Group D standings at FIFA World Cup 2026. Both sides are full of belief and confidence after kicking off their summer campaigns on strong notes.

“We’re so happy to arrive in this moment knowing that Australia is going to be a really tough opponent,” Pochettino said. “Good players, good organization, great coach… [Since the 2022 FIFA World Cup] they were improving every day, every week, every month, every year and now they arrive in good condition. They beat a very difficult team, a great team, in Türkiye. Only we can show, like the Draw, our full respect to them, but at the same time we want to beat them. We are ready to fight.”

USA-Australia kicks off Friday, June 19 at noon PT/3 p.m. ET at Seattle Stadium.

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