With Australia's 2–0 win over Türkiye, all of a sudden the USMNT–Australia game on Friday gets a lot more interesting. I thought the USMNT and Türkiye were the two best teams in this group, but an Australia performance like that means we'll get treated to some better soccer that I would've initially expected. The US need to come with the same intensity they brought against Paraguay. You won't want to miss this clash between the two top teams in the group right now.
Yesterday's matchday had all the brightest stars on center stage, and they all delivered. Mbappé scored two — in the process becoming France's all-time leading World Cup goalscorer — Haaland scored two, and then, as if he needed to remind everyone, Messi scored THREE!
With that hat trick, Messi has officially tied Miroslav Klose for the most World Cup goals ever, at 16. And at this rate, who would dare doubt that he breaks the record before this campaign is done?
Jun 16 · 9:05 AMOff the pitch
I don't really enjoy this studio crew
This crew of Rebecca Lowe, Zlatan, Thierry Henry, and Alexi Lalas just isn't clicking super well in my opinion. Rebecca is always great, but Zlatan, for as much as I love his personality, is just not good at this (at least not yet). Thierry looks disengaged and is a lot better when he has better analysts around him, like he does for Champions League coverage.
And Alexi Lalas... my god... has been poisoning my ears for years. The WOAT.
Jun 16 · 9:38 AMOff the pitch
I'm not sure how ITV got this hook up but this set is absolutely beautiful with the NYC skyline backdrop. Only the best for Roy, Gary, and my boy Big Ange.
Jun 15 · 10:14 AMAround the tournament
Two teams to watch — Japan and Sweden
If you don't have allegiance to any of teams (beside the USMNT, of course!) two fun teams to follow might be Japan and surprisingly Sweden, both from Group F.
Japan played a really strong game and tied 2–2 against a Dutch side that went ahead two times in the game. Japan are interesting in the perspective that they are quite flexible — in the game, they showed their ability to both defend compactly but also open up and go into attack mode. It's not common that teams can do both well — typically, teams will have an "identity" they stick to. Since Japan is flexible, that will make them dangerous if they make the knockout rounds since they can play against any style. Of all the early "dark horses," they have looked the best to me. Also, look how fresh those away jerseys are:
Sweden might not be as good as Japan but they were fun to watch. They beat up on an inferior opponent in Tunisia, but they had a few rocket goals and are quite entertaining at the very least. They don't need a lot of possession, so it'll be interesting to see how they play against other teams; however, when they do get it, they are big, physical, and have two really good strikers always looking to put shots on goal. I don't expect them to go super far, but I do expect them to be fun to watch.
Netherlands 2–2 Japan — highlights
Sweden v Tunisia — highlights
Jun 13 · 11:00 AMUSMNT
USA–Paraguay: the best I've ever seen us play
USA 4–1 PARGroup D · matchday 1
Let me start with this — that was some of the BEST soccer I've ever seen the USMNT play.
Typically, the great USMNT teams of the past have gotten points off grit and effort — 0–0 draws, 1–0 wins, where maybe we didn't have the most possession but we put in strong showings that embodied our spirit of being incredibly physical, if sometimes lacking true quality. So much of our game under the previous coach was: grab an early goal, then sit back and defend, doing our best not to concede instead of chasing more.
This game was different because I've never seen us outright DOMINATE another team like that — our possession, our attacking sequences so full of conviction and purpose. Especially in the first half, whenever we had the ball we were direct and always threatening Paraguay. Whenever we lost it, we immediately jumped and pressed, trying to win it straight back.
The goals were great, too. It was important to get up early on a defensive team like Paraguay, who are very good at sitting back, defending, and waiting for their chance to strike on the counter. The first goal was fortunate, but it showcased why Pulisic is so important to this team. Notice how he ATTACKS those two defenders — players who can go at defenders in one-on-one (or even one-on-two!) situations are crucial. It all starts with him splitting them. (Watch the goal →)
Goals 2 and 3 came from Flo Balogun, who had really strong finishing on both — especially the third, with his weaker left foot into the top bin. My goodness. Traditionally the USMNT hasn't had the best strikers in recent years, so having one who can capitalize on his chances is extremely promising.
The fourth goal was gravy on top, but it came from a player with so much potential who's been in poor form lately. Gio Reyna needed a confidence boost, and that was about as good of one as you can get. What an awesome shot.
Other quick notes from the game:
I loved that someone got a yellow card for flopping. That's exactly what we're trying to get out of the game.
The only way this could've gone better was a clean sheet — but I didn't see anything structurally wrong with the defense. Just Richards and Ream not marking super tightly and the ball bouncing around.
It was good to see Chris Richards play all 90. Given he was an injury worry coming into the World Cup, that was promising.
It's really important to win your first game in the world cup, and this result sets us up well to get out of our group and into the knockout rounds
That was just so much fun. I'm so glad I got to watch.
// The takeaway
Style points matter.
I still worry about what more quality teams might do to our defense, but this game was extremely promising and gives me real hope we can make a run. We dominated a weaker (yet still good!) opponent, and we did it in style. Style points DO matter when you're trying to change the culture of a country — you want awesome highlights kids can watch and go "I want to be like that." Winning, above all, helps that the most.
The full highlights, if you want to watch:
Me and Tina in our US soccer jerseysThe atmosphere at Sláinte, Manhattan.Throwback: 2014, the night we beat Ghana 2–1.
