A dream start for the United States Men's National Team continued on Friday, and the dream will continue into the next round.The United States World Cup team clinched a spot in the knockout stage with its 2-0 victory over Australia in Seattle on Friday afternoon, its second win in as many games in this World Cup.It's the first time since the inaugural World Cup in 1930 that the United States has won back-to-back World Cup games.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMTeam USA celebrates a goal vs.Paraguay in a 2026 FIFA World Cup Group D match at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
(Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images)The United States' second World Cup match got off to an awfully familiar start.Flo Balugon’s pass hit Australia's Cameron Burgess and was directed into the net, resulting in an own goal in the 10th minute and giving the Americans an early lead in the group stage matchup.It was the first time in World Cup history in which a team benefited from own goals in back-to-back games.The field stayed tilted after the first goal, with the Stars and Stripes getting plenty of chances.
Amazingly enough, though, they did not have a shot on goal for roughly 43 minutes.But the U.S.found the back of the net at the tail end of that 43rd minute after a free kick was stopped, and then Alex Freeman, the son of former NFL player Antonio Freeman, headed a ball in.
Officials initially ruled it offside, but a VAR check reversed the call, sending Seattle’s Lumen Field into a frenzy and giving Freeman, the youngest player on the roster at just 21 years old, his first World Cup goal.Through 71 minutes, the United States had possession of the ball for over 60% of the time as opposed to nearly 30% for Australia.The United States is now 11-2-1 when scoring first in the World Cup.It was announced before the game that Christian Pulisic would not play in the game after suffering a calf injury last week.However, the team sufficed quite well without him.United States' Alex Freeman heads t...