Group D: USA Catch a Break with Paraguay, Australia, Türkiye
A manageable group on paper for Mauricio Pochettino. Opening at SoFi against Paraguay before heading to Seattle and back to LA for Türkiye.
W hen the United States went into Pot 1 as a host nation, the worst-case scenarios involved Pot 2 visitors like Croatia or Switzerland and a Pot 3 draw of someone serious from CAF. None of that materialized. Group D – Paraguay, Australia, Türkiye – is the kind of draw that lets a host nation play themselves into form.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side opens June 12 at SoFi Stadium against Paraguay, the South American side returning to the World Cup for the first time since 2010. A week later in Seattle they meet Australia, who finished behind Japan in their AFC group. The closer is Türkiye in Los Angeles on June 25 – and Türkiye, having squeezed through the European playoffs against Romania and Kosovo, are the group’s sharpest test.
The schedule is a gift too. SoFi twice, Seattle in between. No transcontinental flights. No high-altitude games. The hardest road trip is from LA to Seattle and back, which is the kind of schedule European tourists would queue for.
A favorable draw doesn’t guarantee anything. It does set the stage. The USMNT have not won a World Cup knockout match since 2002. With this group, with this schedule, with home support in three different cities, this is the closest thing they will get to a clear runway.