The United States is well aware that Australia, Paraguay, and Turkey will engage in bilateral negotiations. world cup Group D match.
The United States faced all three opponents in friendly games last year, losing to Turkey 2-1 in June and defeating Australia and Paraguay 2-1 last fall.
Group D matches will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia. Seattle; Santa Clara, California, south of San Francisco; Inglewood, California, next to Los Angeles.
This group is one of only four to take place within one time zone, joining Group G on the West Coast and Groups C and I on the East Coast.
US
The Americans have the weakest goaltending group since the 1980s, with only one central defender playing in Europe’s top league, Chris Richards.
However, they benefit from being seeded as the tournament’s co-hosts, with the 16th-ranked USA facing 27th-ranked Australia in the first round, followed by 40th-ranked Paraguay and 22nd-ranked Turkey.
Christian PulisicAmerica’s top player, suffered a scoring slump in April and hasn’t scored a goal for his country since 2024.
Veteran midfielder Tyler Adams and right-back Sergiño Dest of the 2022 squad, which lost to the Netherlands in the round of 16, faced fitness issues before the tournament.
A U.S. team hasn’t advanced to the semifinals since the first World Cup in 1930, and the team hasn’t advanced to the quarterfinals since 2002, when 20-year-olds Landon Donovan and Damarcus Beasley provided sparks.
coach Mauricio Pochettino He replaced Gregg Berhalter after the United States was eliminated in the group stage of the 2024 Copa America.
turkey
The Crescent Stars reached the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup and 2008 European Championship, but missed out on five straight World Cups before defeating Kosovo in the playoffs to qualify for this year’s tournament. This will be Türkiye’s third appearance in the World Cup, having first participated in the tournament in 1954.
Captain Hakan Calhanoglu has scored 22 goals for his country, while Kerem Akturkorkor has scored 15 goals, including the winning goal against Kosovo.
Turkey’s Hakan Calhanoglu controls the ball during the 2026 World Cup Playoffs semifinal soccer match between Turkey and Romania on Thursday, March 26, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey (AP Photo, File)
Former Roma striker Vincenzo Montella took over from Stefan Kunz in September 2023 and led the team to the quarter-finals of the 2024 European Championship.
Turkey needed to win playoff matches against Romania and Kosovo to qualify for the World Cup. They have not faced Australia since 2004 and first faced Paraguay in 1995.
paraguay
La Albirroja became the sixth and final South American side to earn automatic qualification with a 0-0 draw with Ecuador, returning to soccer’s top event for the first time since 2010.
Paraguay will be playing in their ninth World Cup. Their best performance was in 2010, when they reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to Spain with an 83rd-minute goal from David Villa.
32-year-old Miguel Almiron and 30-year-old Antonio Sanabria are the veterans leading the attack, while 22-year-old Julio Enciso and 23-year-old Diego Gomez are the young players.
After a 0-3 record in the 2024 Copa America, Gustavo Alfaro replaced Daniel Guarnero as manager.
Australia
The Socceroos, who lost four games in a row in the group stage, defeated Tunisia and Denmark in the 2022 tournament, but were eliminated by eventual champions Argentina, who won 2-1 in the round of 16.
Team captain goalkeeper Matthew Ryan will be playing in his fourth World Cup.
Australian goalkeeper Matthew Ryan makes a save during an international soccer friendly against Curacao on Tuesday, March 31, 2026 in Melbourne, Australia. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Former Australian defender Tony Popovich was appointed manager in September 2024, replacing Graham Arnold, following a home loss to Bahrain and a draw with Indonesia in the qualifiers. Arnold is in his second stint as Socceroos manager, taking over as Iraq manager in May 2025.
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