United States vs Australia World Cup Preview: Pulisic Doubtful to Play

Zak Drapeau
Jun 19
2 min read

by Zak Drapeau

Sportz Nation - 6/19/2026

USA is set to take on the Australia National team in the 2nd game of Group D in the World Cup today at 3 pm EST from Seattle's Safeco Field.

The BIG NEWS ahead of this fight is the United States star Forward Christian Pulisic's injured left calf which has made him DOUBTFUL but a game time decision for today's big game.

The United States is a -176 favorite to win this match according to Caesar's Sportsbook. After their 4-1 victory over Paraguay last week, the Americans are looking better than expected and much more confident. Australia was also victorious in a shocking upset over Turkiye and did so by a score of 2-0. Their margin of victory was mostly due to a wonderful defensive display by the Aussie's backline and goalkeeper's performance.

This much anticipated battle of the two nations atop of Group D should come down to whether or not the USA can break through the Australian defense and if they play the way they did against Paraguay, they should at least get through once if not more. The United States was legitimately looking like a top attacking team in the first half of their match when Pulisic was healthy and playing as his offense and crossing work from the wing was too good to stop. Then when he was subbed out for the 2nd half, their offense played more through the middle and was still good but lacking that easy entry show before from their star.

Pulisic's health will of course be vital for this game but even if he doesn't play, their defense may actually be more important for this one. With Australia's defense being clearly better than Paraguay's the U.S. will probably be in a tighter game this time around. To win, they'll likely need to score 2 or more while limiting the Aussie's to 1 goal at the most, the former likely being more important.

Thankfully, we saw an elite performance in their first match by defensive stalwarts Tim Ream and Chris Richards. Richards completed an unbelievable 83/83 passes and both Ream and Richards combined for 17 interventions. Along with the fullbacks Antonee Robinson and Alex Freeman who are more wing backs than defensive backs, the defense was great but not perfect in their first game and likely going into this one without their star forward and playmaker, the boys on the back line will have much more pressure to come closer to perfection this time around.

All in all, the Americans should at the very least come away with a point in this one but should also have enough to win. I predict a 2-1 victory with both goals coming in the 2nd half. Without Pulisic, it will be a trial and error-based attack for the 1st half but when they finally get a groove and learn how to play without him they should be able to put multiple goals together. I realize he's just one player but if Pulisic does play I expect this game to be as dominant as the Paraguay match was.