Without the injured Christian Pulisic, US beats Australia 2-0 to advance to World Cup knockout round

SEATTLE (AP) — The U.S. national soccer team advanced to the knockout round at the World Cup without injured forward Christian Pulisic on the field, beating Australia 2-0 on Friday.

A deep U.S. roster earned a knockout berth after only two matches for the first time. The last time the Americans served as World Cup hosts in 1994, they advanced by being one of the best third-place teams. They then lost to eventual champion Brazil in their next match, which was in the round of 16.

Pulisic, who plays for AC Milan and has 33 goals in 87 international appearances, missed Friday’s match because of a calf injury.

“C.P. is a fantastic player — the quality and the leadership that he gives us,” said Folarin Balogun, who scored two goals in the 4-1 victory over Paraguay on June 12. “We didn’t have him today, but I think you saw we’re still capable to go out there and get a result and put up a performance.”

Alex Freeman, the youngest player on the team at 21 and son of Super Bowl champion Antonio Freeman, gave the Americans a 2-0 lead in the 43rd minute off a set piece. Freeman headed in a deflected shot by Sergiño Dest for his first career World Cup goal. The goal was confirmed after a video review.

The U.S. took a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute after a run down the left sideline by Balogun.

He directed a centering pass towards striker Ricardo Pepi, who started in place of Pulisic. The ball never reached Pepi, deflecting off Australia defender Cameron Burgess and into the Socceroos’ net for an own-goal.

“I want to be dangerous, I want to create opportunities,” Balogun said. “It might not always be myself that scores, but if I can force an error that gives us the lead, then for me it's like a goal as well. It was a special start to the game to give us the momentum.”

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

United States' Ricardo Pepi (9) and Australia's Harry Souttar (19) fight for the ball during the World Cup Group D soccer match between the United States and Australia in Seattle, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

United States goalkeeper Matt Freese (24) reacts during the World Cup Group D soccer match between the United States and Australia in Seattle, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

United States' Folarin Balogun (20) and Antonee Robinson (5) celebrate after scoring during the World Cup Group D soccer match between the United States and Australia in Seattle, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

United States fans hold signs on the stand during the World Cup Group D soccer match between the United States and Australia in Seattle, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Australia's Aiden O'Neill (13) appeals for offside after United States' Alex Freeman (16) scored a goal past Australia goalkeeper Patrick Beach (18) during the World Cup Group D soccer match between the United States and Australia in Seattle, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Maddy Grassy)

Kim Gamel, a former veteran Associated Press correspondent who covered conflicts and uprisings around the Middle East, including the height of the Iraq war and the Arab Spring, has died, according to her brother-in-law. She was 57.

Gamel died Wednesday in Idaho after a battle with lymphoma, Lee Ruff said.

Gamel brought the same care and compassion to her work reporting and directing coverage in war zones that she offered to her colleagues. She pursued the story of an Iraqi girl who was blinded in a Baghdad car bombing — bringing attention to her plight and leading to donations and offers of medical care.

“Kim was an energetic reporter and careful editor who made contacts easily, from military members and diplomats to store clerks and day laborers,” said Robert H. Reid, the AP’s former Middle East regional editor who worked with Gamel at the news agency and later at Stars and Stripes.

“She had a wide circle of friends and enjoyed mentoring less experienced journalists as much as producing her own work,” he said.

Even on the busiest days, Gamel always offered colleagues and guests at the Baghdad bureau cups of coffee — made in the machine she kept on her desk with the fine grounds she brought into the country. If a colleague was sick, Gamel offered some of the medication she also brought with her from the U.S.

“Kim’s career took her all over the world, and made her witness to history,” said Paul Haven, vice president of Global Newsgathering at AP. “But whether it was covering the Arab Spring or the war in Iraq, she sought the human stories that brought those wars to life. Her work made a difference in people’s lives, and she will be deeply missed.”

A native of Idaho, Gamel began her career in print journalism soon after she graduated with a degree in Russian from Bates College in Maine, working for an English-language newspaper in Russia, the Moscow Tribune. She later earned a master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

She worked for the AP for about 20 years until 2014, when she left for a Knight-Wallace journalism fellowship at the University of Michigan. After the fellowship, Gamel joined Stars and Stripes, where she covered Asian affairs from her base in Seoul, South Korea. Most recently, she worked in Hawaii.

While at the AP, Gamel did a stint in Sweden as the Nordic and Baltic news editor, covering, among other things, the Nobel Prizes. Gamel also spent time in New York as an editor on the news agency’s International Desk. But she was best known for her work from conflict zones, including Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and Egypt. She was news editor in both Iraq and Egypt.

From her post in Cairo, Gamel helped direct coverage of the Arab Spring uprisings that toppled several governments in the region in 2011 as well as the early years of Syria's civil war.

During Gamel’s time in Iraq, she learned about Shams Karim, a young girl who was blinded and disfigured by a 2006 bomb that also killed her mother.

Gamel followed the story, bringing the world’s attention to the girl who came from a poor family. The reports led to donations worth tens of thousands of dollars and Karim was taken abroad for treatment and given prosthetic eyes.

“Shams was luckier than many Iraqi victims of violence because so many people came forward with offers of help,” Gamel wrote in a dispatch in March 2009.

“Whatever good things happen to Shams in the future are due to Kim Gamel and her big heart,” Reid said.

Gamel is survived by her mother, Bobbie Gamel; sister, Seana Ruff; brother-in-law, Lee Ruff; as well as a nephew and a niece.

FILE - U.S. and Iraqi troops pass a poster of Muqtada al-Sadr, evidence of continued support for the anti-American cleric and his Mahdi Army militia, in Basra, Iraq, on June 10, 2008. (AP Photo/Kim Gamel, File)

This photo provided by the Honolulu Civil Beat in June 2026 shows Kim Gamel in the Honolulu Civil Beat newsroom. (Cory Lum/Honolulu Civil Beat via AP)