SEATTLE – The biggest day in the Emerald City’s long, storied soccer history began early. Mighty early.
With a rare noon kickoff time, some bars and breweries opened not long after sunrise to provide the necessary refreshments, many at capacity, with lines snaking out along the sidewalks outside. Throngs of red-and-white jerseys flooding the streets of downtown, interspersed with colorful splashes of gold Socceroo kits and the occasional hardcore clad in full historical garb like colonial breeches or Civil War-era military blues.
The seaport and rail yards adjacent to Seattle Stadium were bustling as usual, and with similar commitment, the sellout crowd of 66,925 that flocked to the US men’s national team’s World Cup clash with Australia – and countless more watching the game on screens across the city – took their duties seriously, arriving early, partying hard and raising their voices.
“I got chills,” said Sounders and USMNT midfielder Cristian Roldan, “just feeling the crowd and hearing the energy that was in the stands.”
That famed Seattle love was the wind behind the Yanks’ back, as they weathered the absence of star Christian Pulisic to bag a workmanlike 2–0 win over the Aussies that clinches their place in the tournament’s Round of 32 with one game to go in the group stage.
“Today, even if I am not American, after the game I was emotional, because I think the atmosphere was amazing,” said head coach Mauricio Pochettino. “The fans were amazing. Their warm reception in the way that they support us, and in the way they celebrate the victory, they make it feel very emotional, and the players, they are very emotional, too.”
Max Aquino / Sounder at Heart
With the win, the US men are now a perfect 7-0-0 all-time in competitive matches in the Emerald City – which inevitably begs the question, yet again, of why they’ve only played seven of them here over the decades.
To hear Roldan tell it, the squad hopes to return to Cascadia later in this tournament and some of them might just seek out a way to don Rave Green at club level in future.
“Yeah, our teammates were raving about the crowd and the city in general,” he revealed. “Some of them even spoke to me about playing for Seattle in the future – and that's what you want to hear, right? You want to hear what you see in the city in other people, and so I think it lived up to the expectations and more, and I think it catapulted us to a victory.
“I think there might be a chance that we could come back here, and I think that the boys are really excited about that, if everything goes well.”
The new issue of IV: The Sounder at Heart magazine is now available for pre-order. Issue 2 focuses on Seattle’s role in the 2026 World Cup.
Indeed, if the Yanks kick on and win their group, then advance in what would be a Round of 32 match in the San Francisco Bay Area, they could return here for the Round of 16, most likely against the winner of Group G, which contains Belgium, Egypt, Iran and New Zealand.
Mark your calendars.
“Thanks to the fans for all their support. We feel it as a team,” striker Ricardo Pepi told Telemundo postgame. “Keep it going, keep supporting the team.”
Even if this performance was more solid than sexy compared to last week’s pyrotechnic 4-1 demolition of Paraguay, and even if Pochettino didn’t give the home faithful the cherry atop the sundae they really wanted – a Roldan appearance – it was a remarkable day. One that builds the potent sense of momentum around a team eager to charm a nation, and command the attention of even the most soccer-skeptical Americans.
“It was an amazing and perfect connection in between the energy from the stands and the team,” Pochettino said. “This makes us feel very proud, because I think to connect with the people is what we wanted, and then if we want to achieve good things, we need the support of our fans, for sure – fans here in Seattle, but also in the rest of the of the country, they are all supporting us, and we feel that support and that energy, and it’s amazing for the team.”
