USA beat Australia 2–0 to book knockout spot at World Cup

USA beat Australia 2–0 to book knockout spot at World CupAn own goal and a goal by Alex Freeman helped the home side maintain a perfect record and progress to the round of 32.The ‌‌United States showed they could win without Christian Pulisic, ⁠⁠beating Australia 2-0 ⁠⁠to reach the World Cup round of 32, but coach Mauricio Pochettino is hoping his talisman will return for their next ⁠⁠match.Pulisic missed Friday’s Group D clash in Seattle with a calf injury sustained in the USA’s opening win over Paraguay, leaving the cohosts without ⁠⁠their most influential attacking player.The Americans still found a way through, taking the lead in the 11th minute through a Cameron Burgess own goal before Alex Freeman headed in shortly before half-time after a VAR review overturned an ‌‌initial offside decision.“It’s always difficult because we want to have all the players,” Pochettino said. “Christian is an important player for us, but … it was impossible today for him to play. We hope that next game he will be available.”The USA moved to six points and secured their place in the knockout rounds with one group-stage match still to play.USA’s Weston McKennie with Australia’s Alessandro Circati [Blake Dahlin/Reuters]Pochettino ⁠⁠said Pulisic remained central to his plans but ⁠⁠added that any successful World Cup run would require contributions from the entire squad.“If we want to win the competition, we need the whole team,” he said. “All the players need to ⁠⁠be important.“Of course, Christian is one of the best players in the world. I hope that he can ⁠⁠recover as soon as possible and can ⁠⁠enjoy being on the pitch and helping the team.”Weston McKennie praised the US team’s depth and said the squad showed on Friday that they could do it all.