World Cup 2026: FC Dallas Matchday 2 Roundup
The second matchday of the 2026 World Cup has come and gone, and it was a busy, albeit a bit disappointing, set of games for the FC Dallas contingent, past and present.
Let’s do a quick round-up of all the players involved.
Weston McKennie, Chris Richards, Ricardo Pepi, Alex Zendejas // USA
Another huge result for the USMNT, and it came with a heavy dose of FC Dallas. McKennie and Richards kept their starting spots from game 1 for game 2 against Australia. They were joined in the starting lineup by Ricardo Pepi, who surprisingly replaced the injured Christian Pulisic in the eleven. None of them managed to get on the scoresheet, but they all had highly positive contributions to the USA’s 2-0 win: Richards played the full 90, McKennie was subbed off deep in stoppage time, and Pepi played 74 minutes before being subbed off.
The win, combined with Paraguay beating Turkiye, meant that the US clinched first place in the group, which should open things up for Alex Zendejas, who is still waiting to make his World Cup debut. With the US likely to rotate pretty significantly in their third group stage game, Zendejas has a chance to make his mark and a case for minutes in the knockout stage.
Deedson // Haiti
After Deedson’s very strong performance in Haiti’s opener against Scotland, it was a bit of a surprise to see him dropped to the bench against Brazil. He did play, coming on for the last 28 minutes, but by then the game was done and dusted with Brazil holding on to their 3-0 lead. Deedson got on the ball a decent amount in his limited time with 16 touches. He completed all 6 of his passes and created a chance, but it wasn’t enough to get Haiti on the scoresheet for the first time in the World Cup.
Haiti is eliminated after two losses, but they’ll be playing for pride in their final group-stage game against Morocco. After two solid performances, Deedson seems in line for another start before departing the tournament and joining back up with FC Dallas.
Herman Johansson // Sweden
After a huge win against Mexico in their first game, Sweden crashed back down to Earth in Houston against the Netherlands, losing 5-1 and never really looking like much of a threat at any point. Once again, FCD’s Herman Johansson was an unused sub and has now not come into back-to-back lopsided scorelines.
Sweden has a massive game in Dallas against Japan that is likely to decide the second-place finisher in the group (The Netherlands seems likely to beat Tunisia comfortably), and, given his status in the squad, it seems highly unlikely that Johansson will feature in Sweden’s third group-stage game.
Petar Musa // Croatia
After his big goal in Croatia’s tough loss to England, FCD’s talisman was back in the starting lineup for Croatia’s second group stage game against Panama, a must-win game for both teams. Croatia struggled to create much of any danger in the first half, with Musa often cutting an isolated figure. He managed only 11 touches in the first half as Croatia often struggled to advance the ball past midfield, especially into central areas. Croatian manager Zlatko Dalic opted for some tactical changes in the second half, including replacing Musa, ending his game after just 45 minutes.
Croatia did enough to survive, squeaking past Panama 1-0, setting up another big game against Ghana in the final group stage. With Musa not lighting it up against Panama and his replacement, Ante Budmir, scoring the lone goal, it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see Musa dropped to the bench and used as a sub against Ghana, another team that will sit back and clog the middle.
How are you enjoying the World Cup so far?
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