Wright scores twice as US rallies to beat Australia 2-1 in friendly as Pulisic leaves with injury

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) — Haji Wright scored in the 33rd and 51st minutes off passes from Cristian Roldan, and the United States rallied to beat Australia 2-1 on Tuesday to end the Socceroos' 12-game unbeaten streak on a night Christian Pulisic left the game because of an injury.

Jordan Bos had put the No. 25 Socceroos ahead in the 19th minute on Australia’s first shot but Wright equalized just after Pulisic appeared to hurt his right leg.

The 16th-ranked Americans defeated a top 25 opponent for just the second time in 10 matches and improved to 12 wins, seven defeats and one draw since coach Mauricio Pochettino took over.

Wright, who plays for second tier Coventry in England, has 11 goals in 13 games for club and country since August.

“They're putting me in positions to show what I can do and they’re allowing me to be expressive in the field,” he said. “I’m not just stuck in the No. 9 as a typical striker. I'm allowed to move and be free flowing.”

Roldan, a member of the 2022 World Cup roster, returned to the national team last month after a two-year absence.

“My wife and I kept saying that we believe that we can make a late run, make a late push, and hopefully I’m making my case,” he said.

Pochettino, who had not won after trailing, has his team together for just four more matches before he calls in players for his pre-World Cup training camp. The U.S. hosts Paraguay on Nov. 18 and Uruguay four days later, then has two more friendlies in March.

Australia had won seven straight games and had been unbeaten since a September 2024 loss to Bahrain in a World Cup qualifier.

Limited by a right ankle injury to a substitute role in Friday's 1-1 tie against Ecuador, Pulisic stumbled to the field when he was tripped by Jason Geria in the 26th minute. After being examined by an athletic trainer, Pulisic left the field and was replaced by Diego Luna in the 30th.

Pochettino said Pulisic appeared to have a hamstring injury, was to be evaluated further Tuesday night and will return to AC Milan on Wednesday.

Australia went ahead after Bos bounced a throw-in that James Sands tried to clear only for the ball to spin into the penalty area. Bos chested the ball to himself, split Roldan and Sands, then beat Chris Richards to the ball and hooked it with his left foot past Matt Freese’s outstretched left arm for his second international goal.

Wright tied the score after Richards intercepted a pass and played it to Roldan, who headed the ball to Weston McKennie and then received a return pass. Roldan slid a through ball to Wright, who took a touch with his left foot and with his right lifted the ball over goalkeeper Mathew Ryan from about 10 yards.

Wright got his seventh international goal after Roldan took a quick restart and booted the ball two-thirds of the way down the field and into the penalty area. Wright ran onto the ball after four bounces and cut inside as Cameron Burgess fell, then curled the ball inside the far post with his left foot from about 14 yards.

Ryan blocked Luna's point-blank, 6-yard shot in the 79th.

Pochettino changed six starters, inserting Pulisic, Wright, Roldan and Sands along with defender Mark McKenzie and right wing back Alex Freeman. Tim Weah shifted to left wing back. Sands made his first appearance since July 2023 and Freese his 10th straight start at goalkeeper. Midfielder Malik Tillman did not dress because he felt thigh cramp in training Monday,

Freese stopped Nestory Irankunda's close-range shot in the 90th.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

United States forward Haji Wright, front, kicks the ball for a goal as Australia defender Cameron Burgess covers in the second half of an international friendly soccer match Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Commerce City, Colo.(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Australia defender Jordan Bos, front, fights for control of the ball with United States defender Alex Freeman in the first half of an international friendly soccer match Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Commerce City, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Australia's defender Jason Geria, left, pursues the ball with United States forward Christian Pulisic in the first half of an international friendly soccer match Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Commerce City, Colo.(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

United States forward Tim Weah, left, helps up forward Christian Pulisic after he was injured against Australia in the first half of an international friendly soccer match Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Commerce City, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

United States forward Chrisitan Pulisic reacts after being injured against Australia in the first half of an international friendly soccer match Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Commerce City, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Australia defender Alessandro Circati, left, passes the ball as United States forward Haji Wright defends in the first half of an international friendly soccer match Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Commerce City, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

BERLIN (AP) — The eight European countries targeted by U.S. President Donald Trump for a 10% tariff for opposing American control of Greenland blasted the move Sunday, warning that the American leader's threats “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”

In an unusual and very strong joint statement coming from major U.S. allies, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland on Sunday said troops sent to Greenland for the Danish military training exercise “Arctic Endurance” pose “no threat to anyone.”

Trump's Saturday announcement sets up a potentially dangerous test of U.S. partnerships in Europe. The Republican president appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks over the status of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark that he regards as critical to U.S. national security.

“We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland," the group said. “Building on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind. Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”

There are immediate questions about how the White House could try to implement the tariffs because the EU is a single economic zone in terms of trading. It was unclear, too, how Trump could act under U.S. law, though he could cite emergency economic powers that are currently subject to a U.S. Supreme Court challenge.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said China and Russia will benefit from the divisions between the U.S. and Europe. She added in a post on social media: “If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity."

Trump's move was also panned domestically.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a former U.S. Navy pilot and Democrat who represents Arizona, posted that Trump’s threatened tariffs on U.S. allies would make Americans “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need.”

“Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,” he wrote on social media. “The damage this President is doing to our reputation and our relationships is growing, making us less safe. If something doesn’t change we will be on our own with adversaries and enemies in every direction.”

Six of the countries targeted are part of the 27-member EU, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trading. It was not immediately clear if Trump's tariffs would impact the entire bloc. EU envoys scheduled emergency talks for Sunday evening to determine a potential response.

The tariff announcement even drew blowback from Trump's populist allies in Europe.

Italy’s right-wing premier, Giorgia Meloni, considered one of Trump’s closest allies on the continent, said Sunday she had spoken to him about the tariffs, which she described as “a mistake.”

The deployment to Greenland of small numbers of troops by some European countries was misunderstood by Washington, Meloni told reporters. She said the deployment was not a move against the U.S. but aimed to provide security against “other actors” that she didn’t name.

French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media that “no intimidation or threats will influence us, whether in Ukraine, Greenland or anywhere else in the world when we are faced with such situations." He added that "tariff threats are unacceptable and have no place in this context.”

Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in France and also a European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year’s tariff deal with the U.S., describing Trump’s threats as “commercial blackmail.”

Trump also achieved the rare feat of uniting Britain’s main political parties — including the hard-right Reform UK party — all of whom criticized the tariff threat.

“We don’t always agree with the U.S. government and in this case we certainly don’t. These tariffs will hurt us,” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a longtime champion and ally of Trump, wrote on social media. He stopped short of criticizing Trump's designs on Greenland.

Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who leads the center-left Labour Party, said the tariffs announcement was “completely wrong” and his government would “be pursuing this directly with the U.S. administration.”

The foreign ministers of Denmark and Norway are also expected to address the crisis Sunday in Oslo during a news conference.

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Leicester reported from Paris and Cook from Brussels. Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, Aamer Madhani in Washington and Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.

A crowd walks to the US consulate to protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A boy holds a crossed out map of Greenland topped by a hairpiece symbolizing U.S. President Donald Trump, during a protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

People protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)