SEATTLE — For Cristian Roldan, the roar of Lumen Field is no unfamiliar thing. The veteran U.S. men’s national team midfielder, who has plied his trade with Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders since 2015, knows better than most just how passionate the soccer-mad fans of this Pacific Northwest metropolis can be. Now, as the U.S. prepares to face Australia in their second Group Stage match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday, Roldan is counting on that home-field energy to push his side to another victory.
Fresh off a dominant 4-1 opening win over Paraguay in Southern California, the U.S. is set to take the pitch at Lumen Field, the home stadium of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and a venue long renowned for its ear-splitting crowd noise. “I fully expect this crowd to be extremely loud. And, they’re going to energize our group,” Roldan told reporters ahead of the match. “This is one of the loudest stadiums in the world when you think about Seahawks games or Sounders games. Just seeing the atmosphere for the Belgium-Egypt match earlier in the tournament, I fully expect the city of Seattle to come out and show out, and I think the guys are going to feel that type of energy.”
Buoyed by the momentum of their opening triumph, Roldan says the squad is eager to reward the sea of home fans that will fill the stands and live up to the growing expectations surrounding the team. “What excites me is that the entire world, the entire nation is behind us,” he said. “I think that they enjoyed watching us play, and at the end of the day what we want to do is inspire and motivate the next generation. … We have to build off it, and that’s the truth. We can’t just talk about it: We have to show out against Australia.”
But for all the excitement building in Seattle, there is a lingering cloud of uncertainty hanging over the squad: the fitness of star forward Christian Pulisic. Pulisic trained separately from his teammates for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday while recovering from a left calf injury, and head coach Mauricio Pochettino confirmed Thursday night that the attacker’s match availability is still undecided.
Beyond the injury question, the U.S. is under no illusion about the test Australia will bring. The two sides last met in a friendly back in October, where the U.S. scraped by with a tight 2-1 win against a physically imposing Socceroos side – a contest Pochettino described as far from an easy warmup. To overcome Australia’s physical style, Pochettino says his squad will need to match the opponent’s intensity while staying disciplined. “I think we need to play on the edge of the line,” he said, “with not crossing the lines of the rules.”
For Australia, the match is a chance to cement their place on the global soccer stage after a strong opening 2-0 win over Turkey. Center back Harry Souttar expects the U.S. to come out pressing hard from the opening whistle, just as they did against Paraguay. Australian head coach Tony Popovic says his scrappy, hard-working side is hungry to earn the respect of the global football community. “We want to earn our respect,” Popovic said. “We know that by our performances, we can put Australian football on the world map. And, that’s what we aim to do. We started off well against Turkey. Now, we want to back it up.”