Who scored Australia's own goal? Meet Cameron Burgess, who handed USMNT early lead in World Cup game

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Who scored Australia's own goal? Meet Cameron Burgess, who handed USMNT early lead in World Cup game originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

While Australia was riding high after earning a full three points from its first match against Turkey, its second group-stage match against the U.S. got off to a less-than-ideal start.

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The USMNT came out attacking from the opening whistle, and inside 15 minutes, it scored the first goal. To make matters worse for Australia, the American goal came courtesy of an Australian defender.

This is the second game in a row in which the U.S. was gifted a goal by an opponent after its first goal in the previous match came courtesy of a Paraguayan.

Here's who had the misfortune of gifting the U.S. a goal off an Australian boot.

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Who is Cameron Burgess?

In the 11th minute of the U.S. vs. Australia match, Folarin Balogun whipped in a cross in an attempt to find Ricardo Pepi in the center of the box. The first player to get a boot on the ball wasn't Pepi, but Australian defender Cameron Burgess.

The 6-foot-4 center back was unfortunate to redirect the cross into his own net while trying to clear the ball from danger. Instead, the own goal handed the U.S. an early lead.

Burgess is 30 years old, according to Transfermarkt, and plays center back for EFL Championship side Swansea. Burgess has 29 international caps for Australia and has yet to score a goal.

The Australian was not happy with the Americans' reaction to drawing Australia in their group ahead of the 2026 World Cup. According to Burgess, he would be keeping receipts to use as motivation.

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How many own goals have there been in World Cup history 

Burgess's unfortunate kick into his own net has been tallied as the 61st own goal at the World Cup, according to Wikipedia. 

This year's World Cup has already seen seven own goals, including the Burgess effort. The record for most own goals in a group stage is nine, set in 2018.

During the previous 2022 World Cup in Qatar, there were only two own goals throughout the tournament's entirety (Nayef Aguerd for Morocco and Enzo Fernandez for Argentina). Four years prior at the World Cup in Russia, there were a whopping 12 that set the record for most own-goals at a World Cup tournament.

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What is an own goal?

In soccer, an own goal is when a player kicks, heads, or deflects the ball into their own net. They are a part of the game that is demoralizing to be responsible for. Sometimes, however, they can't be avoided in the case of an unlucky deflection.

In Burgess's case, he kicked the ball into his own net while trying to get the ball away from the doorstep of his own net.

In 1994, Andres Escobar, a Colombian, was assassinated in his home country after scoring an own goal for the United States in the 1994 World Cup. An ESPN documentary named The Two Escobars was created in 2010 to recount the events that led up to and followed the tragedy. 

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