SEATTLE — In the aftermath of the latest triumph, defender Chris Richards spoke with a confidence rarely heard from the United States men’s national team.

It’s been earned with the way the U.S. has played through its first two matches of the FIFA Men’s World Cup.

“Obviously we take it one game at a time, but like I mentioned earlier, every game, every tournament we play, we want to win,” Richards said after the U.S. beat Australia 2-0 on Friday at Seattle Stadium. “So I don’t think it’s ridiculous to say that we want to win it, obviously, with a lot more games before we get to that moment.”

Just over a week into the World Cup, the U.S. has already booked its place in the knockout stage of the tournament and its advantageous path toward possibly a deep run.

The 2-0 victory over Australia on a day that will be long remembered in Seattle’s sporting history, coupled with Paraguay’s win over Türkiye late Friday clinched the top spot in Group D for the Americans. It also means that Thursday’s group finale against Türkiye is completely meaningless for both sides.

The next time the U.S. will play a match of significance will be July 1 when it plays in the Round of 32 in Santa Clara, Calif. Winning the group means the Americans will not have to leave the West Coast until the semifinals so long as they keep winning. That includes a potential return to Seattle on July 6 for the Round of 16 and a possible quarterfinal back in Inglewood, Calif.

Here’s a look at what comes next for the U.S.:

Roldan’s chance

So far, Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan has been shut out of the lineup for the U.S. That seems likely to change.

With the group wrapped up and a couple of players having already accumulated yellow cards — particularly Tyler Adams — it would make a lot of sense for Roldan to get some significant minutes in the group-stage finale against Türkiye.

“I have to be sharp, be ready to make an impact if my name is called,” Roldan said after the win over Australia.

The U.S. could change out more than half of its starting lineup against Türkiye just with players that have yet to get any minutes. Roldan is one of six field players that have yet to see the pitch, along with Alejandro Zendejas, Miles Robinson, Mark McKenzie, Max Arfsten and Brenden Aaronson.

All of them should get on the field and give the likes of Adams, Richards, Weston McKennie and others a break.

There might have been an opportunity for Roldan to get on the field in Seattle and complete the rather fairy-tale path of his rise onto the U.S. roster.

That didn’t happen to the disappointment of local fans. While Roldan would have loved to get on the field in Seattle, he was thrilled by what his adopted hometown showed that day.

“Our teammates were raving about the crowd and the city in general,” Roldan said. “Some of them even spoke with me about playing for Seattle in the future, and that’s what you want to hear. You want to hear what you see in the city in other people. I think it lived up to expectations.”

Time for Pulisic

Thanks to the help from Paraguay, the U.S. doesn’t have to worry about rushing Christian Pulisic back into the mix. Pulisic sat out Friday’s victory due to a left calf injury that was aggravated in the first half of the opening win over Paraguay. And now with first place in the group wrapped up, there is no need to risk anything with Pulisic in the finale against Türkiye.

The Americans showed their depth with the performance of Ricardo Pepi stepping in to the starting lineup against Australia. While Pepi didn’t find the score sheet, it was his run that helped create the opening own goal that started with Folarin Balogun’s cross and gave the U.S. an early lead for the second straight game.

U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino also praised the pressure Pepi and Balogun created pressing forward in the opening minutes in setting the tone for the day.

“We built the victory in our attitude,” Pochettino said.

Check the standings

Thanks to winning the group, the U.S. knows it’ll be facing a third-place team in the Round of 32. There’s an idea of which third-place team the Americans might end up facing and it could be determined by Wednesday’s match in Seattle.

The U.S. will play a team from one of the following groups: B, E, F, I or J. No, we don’t need to buy a vowel. And as it stands, the most likely opponent for the U.S. in the Round of 32 is the winner of the match between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Qatar at Seattle Stadium.

But it’s not a given that the third-place team from Group B ends up being the opponent, especially if Bosnia and Qatar play to a draw and don’t earn enough points to advance.

If it ends up being a team from Group E, that could be a dangerous matchup in either Ecuador or Ivory Coast. Group F could be Sweden. Group I might be Senegal or Norway and Group J would lean toward Algeria or Jordan.

In other words, there are a lot of potential options still out there — some advantageous for the U.S. and some tenuous.

While deciphering the possibilities is fun for fans, Pochettino cautioned against looking too far down the road.

“We need to go for the next one to be sure that we are going to arrive in good condition like we arrived in the last two games,” Pochettino said. “We need to work hard, we need to be responsible, we need to have discipline, keep being very tough with ourselves to push and be better and better every day.”

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