
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works .
Copy link
The United States of America and Australia both claimed victory in their opening games - but in very different ways.
Team USA were irresistible as they smashed Paraguay 4-1 in a display full of attacking intent, while Australia made their rope-a-dope approach work to perfection with a 2-0 victory over Turkiye.
That sets up an intriguing clash of styles as the group stage continues with the two sides going head to head in Seattle's Lumen Field, with kick-off set for 12pm local time (8pm UK time).
Play our FREE match predictor and win £1k
Score prediction for USA vs Australia
Australia almost looked to be unduly conservative in how they set up against Turkiye, but the wisdom of their approach was made clear by the two goals they scored.
Tony Popovic's side were happy to let the opposition have the majority of the possession and limit them to long shots, before launching rapid counter-attacks.
The enormously pacy Nestory Irankunda was a particularly potent outlet for them, and he scored in some style to put the Socceroos ahead before Connor Metcalfe's long-range strike made sure of the result 15 minutes from time.
We would expect them to take a similar approach against Mauricio Pochettino's men.
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
The co-hosts were impressively dominant against Paraguay, with Folarin Balogun bagging a brace in between an opening own goal from Damian Bobadilla and Giovanni Reyna's injury time strike.
'More of the same' will be the message from the former Spurs and Chelsea boss, too - and it could all come down to which side carries out their gameplan the better.
On the one hand: Australia are likely to offer more resistance than Paraguay. On the other: the Americans are also a very different proposition to a Turkiye side missing one of their best attacking players.
We're ultimately going to err on the side of thinking that Australia will get something on the counter again, but that the United States will simply prove too difficult to keep out over the 90 minutes - even with key man Christian Pulisic an injury doubt.
A draw could realistically suit both sides - but we're going for a USA win.
Score prediction: USA 2-1 Australia
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
1 Free World Cup bet! Play our FREE World Cup match predictor, win £1k and get a £5 free bet just for entering!
2 Ian Wright tips USMNT to go far at the World Cup and surprise people after impressive opening win over Paraguay
3 The greatest World Cup diving headers of all time
4 "This is better than Christmas!" Celebrating a 90+5 winner with the best supporters at the World Cup
5 Drama around Portugal World Cup squad as Cristiano Ronaldo criticism proves divisive