The United States powered into the last 32 of the World Cup on Friday with a 2-0 victory over Australia as Scotland’s hopes of advancing suffered a blow with defeat to Morocco.
A day after Mexico sealed their place in the knockout rounds, the USA emulated their fellow World Cup co-hosts with a clinical Group D win over Australia in Seattle.
A Cameron Burgess own goal in the 11th minute and a headed effort from Alex Freeman two minutes before half-time sealed a comfortable win for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, who have advanced to the second phase of the tournament with a game to spare.
After an unconvincing build-up, the Americans have made a dream start to the tournament with Friday’s victory following a stylish 4-1 demolition of Paraguay in their opening game last week.
The co-hosts could even clinch first place in Group D later on Friday if Turkey lose or draw against Paraguay in the late match.
“It was a fantastic game again, very good first half,” Pochettino said. “I think we dominated the game against a very tough team.
“When the draw happened in December I thought it was going to be a really difficult, a really tough game.”
Australia coach Tony Popovic blamed “lethargy” for his team’s loss.
“We were slow to every ball, and we couldn’t really wrestle back any momentum, which made it difficult,” Popovic said.
“We conceded a couple of really soft goals but we just looked flat and lethargic in the first half.”
Scotland stumble
In other games on Friday, Scotland’s hopes of advancing out of the group stage for the first time in their history suffered a blow in Group C with a 1-0 loss to African champions Morocco at Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Ismael Saibari scored the games’s only goal, lashing home a thunderous angled strike in the second minute to leave the Scots reeling.
Scotland, who defeated Haiti in their opening match, pressed hard for an equaliser and spent most of the final 20 minutes of the game camped in Morocco’s half.
But despite the relentless pressure, Morocco held firm to secure a win which leaves them top of the group with four points from two games.
With a final group game against minnows Haiti to come, 2022 semi-finalists Morocco are firmly on course to reach the knockout rounds.
Brazil, who play Haiti in Philadelphia later Friday, are Morocco’s main rivals for top spot in Group C.
Scotland, who have three points, may well need to take at least a point from their last group game against Brazil in Miami on June 24 to have a chance of progressing to the last 32.
Morocco’s preparations for Friday’s game were overshadowed by the confirmation from a French appeals court that their captain Achraf Hakimi will face trial for the alleged rape of a woman in 2023.
Iranian complaints
Off the field, a leading Iranian football official said on Friday that Iran’s treatment at the World Cup in North America was a “dark point” in the history of the competition.
Hedayat Mombeyni, the secretary general of the Iranian football federation, was speaking to reporters the day after his organization said it would lodge a complaint with FIFA, claiming the team was being subjected to travel restrictions that were jeopardizing its performance.
Iran wanted to fly from their base camp in Tijuana, Mexico, to Los Angeles two days before their next match, against Belgium on Sunday.
But the Iranian federation said its request was turned down.
The US administration has pushed back against the Iranian demands.
