The U.S. Hasn’t Done This at a World Cup Since 1930. Pochettino’s Team Just Did It.

The U.S. men’s national team walked off the field in Melbourne on Friday with a 2-0 win over Australia, and somewhere in the record books, a 94-year-old milestone finally got an update.

This is the first time the USMNT has won back-to-back games at a single World Cup since 1930. That’s not a typo. Not since the Hoover administration. Not since the first World Cup ever played.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side opened the tournament with a clean 1-0 win over Morocco earlier this week, then followed it with a professional, if not flashy, result against the Socceroos. The win puts the U.S. in position to top Group B with one match left, something nobody really saw coming when the draw was announced last year.

Let’s be honest for a second. This is a program that’s historically been good for exactly one big win per tournament before crashing out. In 2014, they beat Ghana then lost to Belgium. In 2010, they beat Algeria then got knocked out by Ghana. You get the pattern.

So what changed? Pochettino has them organized in a way past U.S. teams weren’t. The back line has been disciplined. The midfield — led by Yunus Musah and Weston McKennie — has actually controlled stretches of games instead of just surviving them. And the finishing has been clinical when it needed to be.

Christian Pulisic opened the scoring in the 34th minute with a cut-back shot that caught the Australian keeper leaning the wrong way. Folarin Balogun doubled the lead early in the second half with a header off a set piece that the U.S. had clearly been drilling all week.

Australia had chances. They hit the crossbar in the 67th minute and forced a sharp save from Matt Turner late. But the U.S. defense held, which is more than you could say for some past American teams when the pressure got real.

Now comes the tricky part. With a win or draw against Iran in the group finale, the U.S. locks up the top seed and a potentially easier path through the knockout rounds. Lose, and it gets complicated. But this version of the team — the one that just made history from 94 years ago — looks like it might be ready for that kind of moment.

One reporter asked Pochettino after the match if he knew about the 1930 stat beforehand. He laughed and said, ‘No, but I’m glad we broke it.’