After nearly a quarter century covering sports in various spots around the globe, I’d put Australia right up there in the worldwide fan-base rankings, perhaps a notch below the Dutch—who treat long-track speedskating, for Pete’s sake, like a Super Bowl. The Aussies are friendly, knowledgeable, and always up for a good time with their mates, even those not from their continent, who they’ve met five minutes ago.   

But forgive the Australians, and their World Cup soccer team, for feeling a little ornery going into the July 19 group stage game against the United States in Seattle. 

Diplomatic relations between the countries are almost always strong. But Australia, it seems, has had enough with the disparaging American punditry going into this enormously consequential matchup: both the U.S., which defeated Paraguay 4-1 on June 12, and Australia (nicknamed the Socceroos), which shutout Turkiye, 2-0, the next day, sit atop the Group D standings. 

After the World Cup draw was announced last December, Mike Grella, a CBS commentator and former professional player, called the Australia game a “layup” for the United States. 

Grella doubled down on his remarks on The Pat McAfee Show this week. “They wear a yellow shirt, I think that maybe they’re getting themselves confused with Brazil or another team that’s won something in the past,” Grella said. “They’ve never won anything.” (Australia won the 2015 Asian Cup.) 

“I look up what Australians are good at—I see cricket, I see rugby, maybe the outback,” he said. 

Alexi Lalas, the former U.S. standout who now works for Fox Sports, called the Aussies “an average team by any measure.” Landon Donovan, the all-time leading U.S. goal-scorer in World Cup games and fellow Fox Sports pundit, had predicted that the Socceroos would finish at the bottom of the group, and called their coach, Tony Popovic, smug. “You can get back on the Qantas airplane and head back home, pal," Donovan said. 

Like any smart team—and fan base—Australia is using smack talk as motivation. 

“Very much the narrative in Australia at the moment is that the U.S., not the people of the U.S., but perhaps some of the commentators that are now shown globally around the world, have disrespected the Australians,” says Julian Linden, soccer writer for The Daily Telegraph in Australia. “It's manna from heaven. You develop the siege mentality.” 

The American players don’t appreciate the fuel pundits have provided. When asked about the comments, they roll their eyes. “All the talk is just nonsense,” says U.S. forward Tim Weah.  

“I don't think any commentary helps anybody,” says midfielder Tyler Adams. “And no, it's not going to be a layup. I think it's going to be one of the most difficult games that we play. We saw a team that went out against Turkiye and competed at a very, very high level. They're combative, they're smart, tactically they were unbelievably sound. So, I think it's going to be extremely difficult.” 

Even before the World Cup draw, and the noise, Australia brought some testiness into their soccer dealings with the United States. In the first half of an October friendly between the two sides, played in Colorado, Australia’s Jason Geria slide-tackled Christian Pulisic with extra force, and clipped him again later on, drawing a yellow card. Pulisic, the American star whose status for Friday’s game is somewhat shaky due to an injury he suffered in the Paraguay opener, left the game with a hamstring issue. 

The Australians brought the physicality. At halftime, with the game tied at 1-1, U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino gave the team an impassioned speech, which was included in the HBO documentary U.S. Against the World: Four Years With the Men's National Soccer Team, released in May. You could even call it a rant. “That is football, if we want to compete!” he said about Australia’s aggressive style. “Communicate, and fight!” 

The Americans prevailed, 2-1. “We’re Americans, and we don’t take s–t,” says U.S. midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, when asked about how Pochettino has shaped the team’s mindset. Berhalter wasn’t on the roster for that friendly, but he saw the speech. “He really drills that into us,” Berhalter says.  

The Aussies aren’t the sole instigators, according to them. “We saw two teams who share a common interest in playing for high stakes,” says Linden, who covered the game in Colorado. “It can be a bit prickly at times. It looked a bit testy. They're both combative teams. It's one of those ones where I think it takes two to tango.” 

The dance kicks off Friday afternoon. “From that game in Colorado, we've changed a lot,” says Weah. “We’ve gotten a bit more aggressive as well.” 

Expect a fine first-place fight in Seattle.