USA v Australia: Predicted XI, Scoreline & The Shirt

Host nation. First game. The most watched the USMNT will ever be from minute one of the group stage.

Pochettino's first competitive match as USA manager is not going to be a quiet Tuesday night. It will be a sold-out arena, a national broadcast, a country that is still figuring out exactly how much it cares about football and will decide the answer based on what happens in Group D.

Australia are the opposition. They are organised. They are dangerous on the counter. They do not care about the occasion.

Our score: USA 2-1 Australia. Pulisic gets one. Balogun starts ahead of Pepi. Pochettino plays a 4-3-3.

Group D Is a Gift. Don't Waste It.

Look at Group D: USA, Paraguay, Australia, and likely the Turkey/playoff winner.

On paper, this is the most navigable group a host nation has ever been handed at a 48-team tournament. Two automatic qualifications from the top two spots, with eight best third-place teams also advancing. The USA could finish third and still go through.

That context matters tactically. It should not produce a cautious performance. It should produce exactly the opposite — a team that goes for it from minute one, knowing that even a stumble here is recoverable.

Pochettino will know that. He did not take this job to defend a 1-0 lead for sixty-five minutes.

USA's Likely XI

Pochettino is a 4-3-3 manager. He was at Southampton, Spurs, PSG. The system is the system. He will not suddenly play a 4-4-2 because a TV pundit thinks it suits the occasion better.

In goal: Matt Turner — or whoever has pushed past him in the form stakes heading into the tournament.

Right back: Dest or DeAndre Yedlin depending on fitness and form. Centre backs: two of Walker Zimmerman, Chris Richards, or Tim Ream. Left back: Antonee Robinson.

Midfield three: McKennie, Adams, and one of Reyna or Musah as the more advanced option.

Front three: Weah or Dest as the right winger. Pulisic on the left. And up front: Folarin Balogun.

We've made