The U.S. can clinch a spot in the World Cup knockout round. But it knows not to underestimate Australia.

World CupThe U.S. can clinch a spot in the World Cup knockout round. But it knows not to underestimate Australia.Coach Mauricio Pochettino challenged U.S. players during a match against Australia last year. The teams meet again Friday with a spot in the round of 32 on the line.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Christian Pulisic of the U.S. during a World Cup match against Paraguay in Inglewood, Calif., on June 12.Dean Mouhtaropoulos / Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 19, 2026, 7:00 AM EDTBy Andrew GreifHow does a team follow up its best performance in the World Cup in nearly a century? Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.For the U.S., preparing for its second group-stage game Friday against Australia has meant remembering when times were not so good. It was only seven months ago — the last time the U.S. played Australia.That match last fall was technically a non-counting friendly, but that didn’t lower the intensity of what became a physical contest as Australia challenged the U.S. from the start. Mauricio Pochettino, who was a year into his tenure as the U.S. national team coach, entered the locker room at halftime of a 1-1 tie and began a “rant,” U.S. midfielder Sebastian Berhalter recalled.“They come and they fight,” Pochettino told the team in a video it released later. “When are we going to fix that?”U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino celebrates with his players during the U.S. match against Paraguay on June 12.Jamie Squire / Getty ImagesThe U.S. would beat Australia 2-1, and ahead of a rematch Friday, U.S. players were asked whether there was a lesson to be taken from Pochettino’s words during their last matchup against the Socceroos. “I think one is that we’re American, we don’t take s---,” Berhalter said. “I think that’s something that [Pochettino] really put in, and you know, he’s, even though he’s Argentinian, he has that mindset of like, ‘Look, this is what we do, and...