The United States are not just mathematically through to the knockout rounds of the FIFA World Cup but also assured of top spot in Group D.

The co-hosts secured their passage to the Round of 32 with a 2-0 win over Australia on Friday.

We look at the Fantasy implications from this victory in our Scout Notes, which features match stats from our World Cup Toolkit page.

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UNITED STATES 2-0 AUSTRALIA

• Goals: Burgess own-goal, Freeman
• Assists: Balogun, Dest
• Tackle bonus: Tillman, McKennie, Adams
• Top points scorers: Freeman (16), Dest (12), Ream, Freese (both 9), Richards, Robinson (both 8)

TEAM STATS

PLAYER STATS

SCOUT NOTES

• Whilst they weren’t quite at the buccaneering best we had seen against Paraguay, USA breezed to victory in Seattle. They outshot their opposition 10-5, and were 1.30-0.44 up on xG.
• The co-hosts even did it without their talisman, Christian Pulisic ($7.0m). A calf injury forced him to miss this game, so what are the odds of a return in Round 3?

“Always difficult because we want to have all the players fit. He’s an important player for us, but that is a team. It was impossible for him today to play. We hope that next game he will be available, but if we want to win the competition, we need the whole team. All of the players need to be important, but of course, Christian is one of the best players in the world, and I hope that he can recover as soon as possible and can show it on the pitch and help the team.” – Mauricio Pochettino on Christian Pulisic via BBC Sport

• Pulisic’s absence wasn’t much of a hindrance to victory, although his replacement, Ricardo Pepi ($5.9m), was no great shakes. That was Pochettino’s only change to this starting XI.
• Folarin Balogun ($6.0m) couldn’t add to his Round 1 brace but was still a threat, forcing Cameron Burgess’s ($3.8m) early own-goal. He looked like he had broken beyond the Aussie backline on a couple of occasions, but loose touches led to him seeing one shot blocked and then failing to get an attempt away entirely.
• Sergio Dest‘s ($4.3m) dream start continues, however. Whether it’s as a winger or as an advanced wing-back, he’s offering plenty of threat down the right flank. The budget defender’s total of three shots was a game-high here, with his assist coming from one of them: a blocked effort from a set piece that was nodded in by unlikely goalscorer Alex Freeman ($4.0m).
• USA’s central midfield three of Malik Tillman ($6.1m), Weston McKennie ($6.1m) and Tyler Adams ($5.3m) all delivered tackle bonus, with the first two offering a bit of supplementary threat: McKennie registered two shots and three key passes, while Tillman took five corners.
• But will any of the above players start in Round 3? There is now nothing at all riding on the clash with eliminated Turkiye, so could Pochettino rotate in the dead rubber? He seemed to suggest it was a possibility when speaking after full-time.

“To be honest, we’re still playing that [Australia] game. I think when we wake up tomorrow and start preparing for the game against Turkey, we’ll start thinking about that. I think it’s too early to talk about our decision against Turkey. I can’t anticipate anything. What we’re going to do, what happened today for us, is about moving on. But we have 28 players training, 26 on the roster, and all of those players have the ability to play and are capable of playing. Whatever decision we make going forward, the U.S. Men’s National Team is going to play against Turkey. And I think it’s a temptation to talk about names. But I think if we want to win and we want to be one of the good teams, dreaming big, we all have to talk about the team, the U.S. Men’s National Team, and not about names.” – Mauricio Pochettino on Christian Pulisic, via Futbol Fantasy

• As for Australia, a win or draw against Paraguay sends them through to the Round of 32. They may even creep through in third place with a loss. Plenty to play for on the final day, then.
• What sort of side will Tony Popovic send out, however? He made the strange decision to drop both of his Round 1 goalscorers, Nestory Irankunda ($5.1m) and Connor Metcalfe ($5.3m), and that strategy looked to have backfired with a fairly anaemic attacking display. Both players, unsurprisingly, came on at half-time. The highly rated Cristian Volpato ($6.0m) also emerged in the second half, and the Socceroos did look better with their young attacking talent on the field. Irankunda set Volpato up for one effort that went over. The stubborn Popovic, however, doubled down on the logic behind his two much-criticised starting XI changes.

“We didn’t want to go out with the same starting XI. And today you could see why. And I probably should have made more changes.

“I’m not sure how much the [dropped players] would have changed that first half. It was hot for us out there. It was tough. We struggled. And I think the players who came on probably would have struggled to last very long in the first half.

“Nestory Irankunda found it difficult in the second half physically. Very, very difficult. You know, we’re talking about a player who is very explosive, but he was suffering from cramps on the pitch. So, these are things you have to take into account.” – Tony Popovic, via Futbol Fantasy

• Forward Mohamed Touré ($5.0m), who had an early shot saved, came off at half-time. Popovic confirmed it was a tactical decision, however.