GEM OF A WIN IN EMERALD CITY!
pic.twitter.com/3i3HspeWis— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) June 19, 2026
Posted on 06/19/2026 5:43:30 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
They did it! The USMNT (United States Men's National Team) has won back-to-back contests in its first two matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with a victory on Friday handing the Aussies' Socceroos team a giant goose egg, 2-0, in Seattle. And even more dramatically, they did it without star forward Christian Pulisic.
The U.S. national soccer team advanced to the knockout round at the World Cup despite the absence of injured forward Christian Pulisic, beating Australia 2-0 on Friday.
...
Alex Freeman, the youngest player on the [U.S.] team at 21 and son of Super Bowl champion Antonio Freeman, gave the Americans a 2-0 lead in the 43rd minute off a set piece. Freeman headed in a deflected shot by Sergiño Dest for his first career World Cup goal. The goal was confirmed after a video review.
The U.S. took a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute after a run down the left sideline by Folarin Balogun, who scored two goals in the 4-1 victory over Paraguay on June 12.
Balogun directed a centering pass towards striker Ricardo Pepi, who started in place of Pulisic. The ball never reached Pepi, deflecting off Australia defender Cameron Burgess and into the Socceroos’ net for an own-goal.
The national anthem plays at Seattle Stadium 🇺🇸
Today marks the first-ever FIFA World Cup match in Seattle for the @USMNT pic.twitter.com/BgLRFsUKHr— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 19, 2026
And in case you missed RedState's coverage of the World Cup excitement for the U.S. team up to this point, here's a quick catch-up.
GEM OF A WIN IN EMERALD CITY!
pic.twitter.com/3i3HspeWis— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) June 19, 2026
As Nick Arama wrote about the Game 1 win, the world was put on notice that the Americans have "an emphatic winning force," notching an unimpeachable, 4-1 win over Group D foe, Paraguay, seven days ago inside a rocking SoFi Stadium in L.A.
Read More: Hot Takes: Republicans Root on the US Men's National Soccer Team Ahead of World Cup Start
US Men's Team's First Game in World Cup 2026 Delivers Patriotism, and One Heck of a Win
The Athletic, having a little fun during its preview of the big match this week (in its comprehensive sports newsletter), cheekily spelled out the team's acronym, USMNT, as U.S. Mutant Ninja Turtles.
It's all part of the fun - and what's more fun than winning bigtime on the world stage?
We're watching sports history being made:
It's been 96 years since the U.S. won consecutive games at a World Cup 🤯
pic.twitter.com/bwU5CJlriG— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 19, 2026
Team USA is through to the knockout stage.
The United States secured its place in the next round of the World Cup with a 2-0 victory over Australia in Seattle on Friday, improving to 2-0 through its first two matches of the tournament.
The Americans have now clinched advancement with a game still left to play in the group stage.It's the first time since the inaugural World Cup in 1930 that the United States has won back-to-back World Cup games.
pic.twitter.com/WvGlScQURU— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 19, 2026
Team USA is through to the knockout stage.
The United States secured its place in the next round of the World Cup with a 2-0 victory over Australia in Seattle on Friday, improving to 2-0 through its first two matches of the tournament.
The Americans have now clinched advancement with a game still left to play in the group stage.
It's the first time since the inaugural World Cup in 1930 that the United States has won back-to-back World Cup games.
What's this mean in layman's terms? Now we need to watch for the results of Paraguay vs.Türkiye, to learn how tough the next opponent will be for the USMNT:
The USMNT can win their group if Türkiye don't beat Paraguay.
They would face a third-place team in San Francisco 😎 pic.twitter.com/KKgMZjYQMe— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 19, 2026
U.S. fans in Seattle let the Australians know how things would go with a funny sign:
A USA fan holding a "VEGEMITE FREE ZONE" sign during the USA vs. Australia FIFA World Cup match. 🤔
pic.twitter.com/aOcbOmJ5gZ— World Cup 2026 (@ofootball__) June 19, 2026
There were some fans from the Trump administration in attendance, including HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Energy Sec. Chris Wright, rooting on Team USA:
Honored to join fans from around the world at today’s FIFA match in Seattle with @SecretaryWright. Sports unite people across cultures and borders, inspire teamwork and healthy competition, and strengthen communities.
Go @USMNT! 🇺🇸
pic.twitter.com/3etpykBDKn— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) June 19, 2026
With the mid-day match taking place during a weekday, many Americans might have missed seeing it. So here's the winning moment.
Watch:
What a match for the @USMNT to advance to the Round of 32 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/TJZYVyClSy— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 19, 2026
Warning, this next clip is total Goosbumps City - I dare you to try not to sing along to this all-American "anthem" by John Denver:
ABSOLUTE GOOSEBUMPS AS THE ENTIRE STADIUM SINGS 'TAKE ME HOME, COUNTRY ROADS' WITH THE USMNT PLAYERS AFTER THE WIN AGAINST AUSTRALIA
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/ATj4OHcEE6— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) June 19, 2026
USA! USA! USA!
[Editor's Note: this article was edited for clarity post-publication.]
USA! USA! USA! 🇺🇸
Paraguay beats Turkey. US wins the Group, Turkey is eliminated.
I suspect that many parents of kids, have still never played soccer, so they look down on it. It’s still becoming more popular every year.
The soccer fields around Fairbanks is crazy busy and more so every year it seems.
As the younger people have kids they will play soccer more. If you understand the game it is quite exciting.
NOBODY GIVES A DAM ..
Great news!
Paraguay defeated Turkey 1-0, which makes the US Group D Champions!
Turkey is eliminated, lol.
The bad news: Our next game is in Santa Clara and I’m worried that the Demonrat crowd will be hostile against the US squad.
I was worried about playing in Seattle, but the crowd was great. The US fans must not have been Seattle residents.
I’m also proud that one of our players, Chris Richards, is from Alabama.
It’s true that we have yet to face a powerhouse squad, but I’m loving this team’s spirit and confidence.
Why not us??
Soccer is great fun to play but still bores me to tears to watch. 2 total goals in an entire game is nothing I can get too excited about.
Congrats to Team USA for the back to back victories and here is hoping they can upset the favorites but all y’all will have to watch those games for me.
The funny thing is, I have no problem watching a 1-0 pitchers duel in baseball, but than that is not the typical score. And I have no problem watching a 3-0 defensive NFL war in football, but that is not the typical score.
I mean, the average soccer game is 3 goals. 8 goals is considered a blisteringly high scoring game.
IMHO, they need to widen the entire goal by 2 feet. Double digit scores should be the rule rather than the exception. Watching soccer wins 1-0 is like watching paint dry.
Fun fun game to play, however.
The all-time winners rank as follows:
5 Titles: Brazil (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
4 Titles: Germany (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014), Italy (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006)
3 Titles: Argentina (1978, 1986, 2022)
2 Titles: France (1998, 2018), Uruguay (1930, 1950)
1 Title: England (1966), Spain (2010)
RE: NOBODY GIVES A DAM ..
Well, the numerous positive responses in this thread tells us otherwise, not to mention the sell out crowds in the stadiums of the three host countries.
I never played a lick of soccer. All sports bored the hell out of me. I took up music. But my family’s Irish heritage had my family chasing soccer balls for some 120 years. I can remember it being called a ‘’sissy sport’’.
I’m 70. I’ve lived in northern NJ my whole life. Never played soccer. My grandfather played soccer at the turn of the century in Harrison, NJ when he came here from Ireland. My dad played it in the late ‘40’s in high school and my two older brothers played it all through elementary school, high school and college.
My oldest brother at one time was coaching the girls soccer team at Rutgers.
My mom was a soccer mom 60 years before it was hip.
I didn’t even know that USA did soccer, except for kids when they should be in Sunday School.
Yeah...I’m certainly not “stunned”.
That said, they have talent, this isn’t like prior USMNT’s. They’re more organized, energetic, creative, and can probably beat anyone on any given day.
Only time will tell if they can do it every day in this tournament.
It’s great to see the bars packed and everyone supporting the USA. Same goes for many western democracies in general, they need reminding of who they are, the patriotism, and that they’re not just some “multi-cultural” sh*t hole.
Italy in the UEFA region competes with the best countries as compared to other regions and, hence, is more difficult to qualify. Do you think Haiti in the Concacaf region is a stronger team than another team in UEFA?
———###—-
A total of 206 countries entered the qualification cycle to compete for a spot in the current 48-team tournament.The global qualification process is a massive, multi-year journey organized by six separate continental confederations:Breakdown by ConfederationUEFA (Europe): 54 teams competed for 16 direct spots.CAF (Africa): 53 teams competed for 9 direct spots (plus 1 intercontinental playoff spot).AFC (Asia): 46 teams competed for 8 direct spots (plus 1 intercontinental playoff spot).Concacaf (North/Central America & Caribbean): 32 teams competed for 3 direct spots (plus 2 intercontinental playoff spots). The 3 host nations—the United States, Mexico, and Canada—qualified automatically and did not have to play through the preliminary groups.CONMEBOL (South America): 10 teams played in a single league format for 6 direct spots (plus 1 intercontinental playoff spot).OFC (Oceania): 11 teams competed for 1 direct spot (plus 1 intercontinental playoff spot).
Is it harder to qualify in UEFA zone?
Yup.
But Italy should still have qualified.
They are Italy.
The last time the US won back-to-back games at the World Cup was 96 years ago. So any American who can remember the World Cup of 1930 would be at least 100 years old, and perhaps a couple of years older. But there was no TV in 1930 so news would have been by radio or newspapers, and how many Americans in 1930 were paying much attention? Maybe immigrants from countries where the game was popular. I wonder if there are any Americans alive who can personally remember the 1930 World Cup.
Geez, the Netherlands are totally destroying Sweden.
I’m calling it, they will be in the Final.
Netherlands does look strong! Germany and Argentina look top as well. Love watching the US as to how they are playing, but I don’t think they make it past the final eight…
5-1, now.
It’s not just that they are winning, but how they are winning, they are dominating time of possession, which is rare for the US, traditionally, even against the mid-level kind of competition they’ve faced so far.
And to think, I thought Turkey would be the team to beat in the Group, and they are already out of the tournament.
“ But Italy should still have qualified.”
But didn’t qualify.
Perhaps they will qualify in the 2030 tournament as Italy Under 17 are European winners this year. I don’t know the results for the Under 19 games.
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