2026 World Cup: Breakdown of the USMNT's Group Stage Matches

Paraguay: A Must-Win for the Stars and Stripes

The USA’s easiest match of the World Cup group stage is undoubtedly the opening match against Paraguay. The match will take place at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, where the home crowd is expected to come out in droves. 

As noted in our USA vs Paraguay pick, it will be a challenge for the US to come away from this opening match with three points. The US will be able to look back to last November when they squared off against Paraguay for a friendly match that ended 2–1 in favor of the US. The first half looked like it was going to be a difficult match for the US after Gio Reyna’s 3rd-minute opening goal was quickly answered with a goal from Paraguay’s Alex Arce. The match got chippy early on and the US were able to dominate the second half thanks to a red card issued to Paraguay’s Omar Alderete. 

Tensions will be high in this rematch and we’re expecting Paraguay to pull out all of the stops against the US. 

• USA vs Paraguay: Friday, June 12 at 9:00 PM ET - SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California.

Our USA vs Paraguay Match Pick

Australia: Temperature Rising for the USMNT

A week later, the US will head to Seattle to take on the Socceroos at Lumen Field. The two teams don’t know each other well, given they have only met 5 times in the modern era, with the US leading the tally with 3 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw. They most recently met in October for a friendly match in which the US absolutely dominated. Haji Wright was spectacular and came away with a brace. He’ll be hoping for the same result again in the US’s second group stage match. 

This is the first competitive match between the two teams, but if the head-to-head history tells us anything, the US could end up dominating.

• USA vs Australia: Friday, June 19 at 3:00 PM ET - Lumen Field, Seattle, Washington.

Turkey: The Final Boss

For their last group-stage match, the US will head back to SoFi Stadium to take on Turkey, the most difficult opponent in the group. Ranked below the US (16) at 22 worldwide, the Turkish national team features several international stars. Winner of the best goal this season in La Liga, Turkey’s Arda Guler is a force to be reckoned with in the midfield and is on several lists for the most assists, pre-tournament. 

The only official meeting (outside of a friendly) between the two teams was back in 2003, where the US fell to Turkey 2-1 for the Confederations Cup in France. The two teams met most recently in June of last year where Guler helped lead Turkey to victory over the US in another 2-1 loss for the Stars and Stripes. Looking back at the squads for this matchup proves that this was mostly a test match as the US will be heading into this match with an almost entirely different lineup. 

Let’s hope the US has already secured their spot in the knockout round by the time they head into this match against Turkey. Getting the three points against a Turkish squad in full form will be a challenge.

• Turkey vs USA: Thursday, June 25 at 10:00 PM ET - SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California.

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