Leicester City’s Harry Souttar skippered Australia at the FIFA World Cup on Friday
Australia were beaten 2-0 by the United States on matchday two in Group D
Bilal El Khannouss played for Morocco in their 1-0 win over Scotland
Heading into the Seattle clash buoyed by their opening 2-0 success over Türkiye, Leicester City centre-back Souttar wore the Australia armband once more.
Mauricio Pochettino’s USA, though, are themselves riding the crest of a wave and took control of the encounter early on as Cameron Burgess’ own goal gave them the lead.
That came in the 11th minute and, with two minutes remaining until half-time, it was 2-0 as Alex Freeman doubled America’s lead with a close-range header.
Australia remain second in Group D, on three points, the same amount as Paraguay, who sit third and are their next opponents on Friday (3am kick-off).
Elsewhere, Bilal El Khannouss, on loan at Stuttgart throughout 25/26, started Morocco’s 1-0 victory over Scotland which keeps them second in Group C, level on four points with leaders Brazil.
Ismael Saibari’s strike, just 70 seconds into the contest in Boston, was the difference, ahead of tackling Haiti on Wednesday (11pm kick-off).