World Cup

USA vs Australia World Cup 2026 prediction

USA were one of the most impressive sides in the opening round of games with a thumping 4-1 victory over Paraguay, that saw Mauricio Pochettino’s side race out to a 3-0 half-time lead.

Folarin Balogun scored a first half brace after his cutback lead to an Damian Bobadilla own goal to give the co-hosts the lead inside 7 minutes. They deserved to be in front at that stage too.

The Americans were on the front foot for all of the first half before taking their foot off the gas after the break, although only making two substitutions before the hour. One of those replaced was Christian Pulisic, who is a doubt for this game. A big loss but they showed they had a lot of creativity even without the former Chelsea man. Balogun, Sergino Dest, Weston McKennie and Malik Tillman all looked a threat, whilst substitute Gio Reyna helped himself to a goal too.

Meanwhile, Australia were on the backfoot for most of their game against Turkey, albeit they did run out 2-0 winners. Turkey had 72% possession, 30 attempts on goal and eight on target, to Australia’s eight efforts and four on target. Sure, Tony Popovic’s side were clinical and defended well, but I think a better side would have beaten them on Saturday morning. And USA are just that. Turkey are playing in their first World Cup since 2002.

I can see USA taking the game to Australia from the start in this one, and unlike Turkey, I expect them to put the ball in the back of the net. They deserve to be odds on favourites and I expect they will live up to that.

Best bet: USA to win is 3/4 with Bet365
Value bet: USA to win HT/FT is 5/4 with Bet365