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Updated June 20, 2026 — 12:28pm,first published June 20, 2026 — 9:58am
Seattle: Tony Popovic says he does not believe his decision to bench Australia’s two goalscorers from their opening-round win against Turkey – Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe – was the reason for the Socceroos’ woeful first-half performance in their loss to the United States.
Australia’s World Cup campaign hangs in the balance, with the Socceroos needing a result from their final group game against Paraguay to progress into the knockout stages after being outplayed by the United States in a 2-0 loss in Seattle on Saturday.
Both US goals came in the first 45 minutes as the Australians looked overawed by the occasion of playing the tournament co-hosts in the heat and in front of 69,000 people in a loud, parochial Lumen Field crowd.
Former Socceroos greats, including Harry Kewell, Craig Foster and Mark Bosnich, were highly critical of the first half. Foster and Bosnich also slammed Popovic’s decision not to start Irankunda and Metcalfe.
“The game was over before it even started,” Bosnich told Stan Sport’s World Cup Daily.
Popovic, too, lashed his side’s first half, saying they failed to match USA’s intensity, were slow to the ball and could not gain any momentum.
“We just looked flat and lethargic in the first half,” he said.
But he denied it was because he decided to start veteran Mathew Leckie and Melbourne Victory’s Nishan Velupillay over Irankunda and Metcalfe.
“I’m not sure how much the personnel would have made a difference in that first half,” he said. “It was warm for us out there; it was difficult. We found it difficult.”
After the high of a first-up 2-0 win against Turkey, Popovic was praised for his bold selection choices, including dropping captain Mat Ryan for unproven goalkeeper Patrick Beach and playing Paul Okon jnr ahead of Jackson Irvine. Both had starring roles in the famous victory.
But the big calls on Saturday did not pay off, and Velupillay and Leckie failed to make an impact against the Americans. Popovic hooked Velupillay at half-time as one of three changes that brought on Irankunda and Metcalfe, as the Socceroos chased the game in the second half.
“It feels like we’ve frozen on the big stage,” Kewell told SBS at half-time.
“We’re just getting the ball and kicking it long ... they’ve put us on the back foot and been able to connect in the wide areas and make us look terrible.”
Former Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer also decried the decisions. “I felt that we didn’t give ourselves a chance in the first 45 minutes,” he told ABC Sport Daily. “I thought tactically [it] was wrong, selections were wrong.
“We talked off the back of what they did against Türkiye, and it was absolutely spot on. This time round, I think the changes were not effective.
“Actually, if anything, they hurt us a bit today. We lacked any real out, we lacked the threat of Irankunda in behind. So yeah, really disappointing.”
“We got a little bit caught up with the occasion; playing a home nation, we’ve never done that before.
“There’s a good mixture of players in this squad of experience and inexperience, but every one of them, for the very first time, have played against a host nation at a World Cup. It’s the first time the Socceroos have done it [and] that occasion slightly got the better of us.”
Foster lamented the opening 45 minutes from the Socceroos too.
“First half was horrible from us,” he said. “We just couldn’t get in the game. It’s the worst the team has played for a while … it was overwhelmingly due to the brilliant plan [US coach Mauricio] Pochettino had for the US.
“They shut us down perfectly. The midfield couldn’t move ... the good news is the Socceroos turned it around in the second half.”
Even without star winger Christian Pulisic, who failed to overcome a calf injury, the US threatened Australia from the start. They were rewarded in the 11th minute when Folarin Balogun showed a burst of speed down the left side and fired a low, threatening ball across Australia’s eight-yard box into the path of defender Cameron Burgess. The Australian could do nothing else but knock it into his own net.
The US doubled the lead with a contentious goal just before half-time. A training ground move from a free kick allowed Sergino Dest to blast a shot from the top of the box, which then took a deflection that Alex Freeman headed home. It was called offside by the referee before that decision was overturned by the video check.
Australia almost went 3-0 down just after half-time when Alessandro Circati just managed to block Balogan after the American made another run through Australia’s defensive line. Australia’s performance improved from there, and the introduction of Irankunda and Metcalfe, as well as Cristian Volpato when Leckie got injured, had an impact.
“We don’t have the experience of playing in big leagues and having the minutes under our belt, but the response, where you can easily cave in under the pressure, physically, emotionally, we responded extremely well,” Popovic said of Australia’s second-half effort.
“I’m really pleased with the second half, and it would have been nice to get a goal in those moments that we had, to just see what could happen next. But everyone should be very happy with how they responded after the break.”
US coach Pochettino, who refused to weigh in on Popovic’s selection decisions, said his team must keep “believing that we can win [and] knowing that we need to go really hard”.
The win puts Pochettino’s side into the knockout stages of the tournament, and, if Turkey fail to beat Paraguay in their group D clash on Saturday afternoon (AEST), America will top the group with a game to spare.
Australia must regather themselves for the game against Paraguay in five days’ time at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, where they will need at least a draw to ensure they progress out of group D and into the World Cup knockout stages.
