Washington, June 20 -- Co-hosts the United States became one of the first teams to secure a place in the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Australia in their Group D clash at Lumen Field on early Saturday IST.
The Americans maintained their perfect start to the tournament, making it two wins from two matches and moving to the top of Group D with six points.
The breakthrough came in the 11th minute when Australian defender Cameron Burgess inadvertently turned the ball into his own net while attempting to deal with a dangerous delivery, handing the hosts an early advantage.
The USA doubled their lead just before halftime through Alex Freeman, whose headed effort was initially subjected to a VAR review...