On the 4th of July, Netherlands scraped through a tough Polish challenge, pushing on to the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup.
But Netherlands vs Poland was not the final game of July 4th.
For July 4th, the FIFA World Cup officials made a special tweak, bringing the first fixture originally scheduled for July 5th back to July 4th, and it was the epic Round of 32 clash between USA and Australia.
[FIFA World Cup 2026 – Round of 32]
[Match 12: USA vs Australia]
[Venue: BC Place, Vancouver, Canada]
[Date: July 4th, 2026]
[Kick-off: 18:00 local time]
[Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)]
The game was tagged the Independence Day Showdown.
It was a mild summer evening at the BC Place in Canada, electric under the roof of the stadium.
The United States, playing in Canada and on the biggest national holiday of the year for them, walked onto the pitch with pressure pulsing in every heartbeat.