England have never beaten the United States at a World Cup, an oddity of history that could get a fresh test in the summer of 2026.
The two nations have crossed paths three times on football’s biggest stage. The Americans pulled off the famous 1-0 upset in Belo Horizonte in 1950, before a 1-1 draw in 2010 and a goalless stalemate in Qatar in 2022 — three meetings, and still no English win.
They cannot renew the rivalry in the group stage this time, drawn into different sections of the 48-team field. Yet the new knockout bracket leaves a path for the old foes to meet again — and the timing could be remarkable, landing just days after the United States marks its 250th birthday on July 4th.
How USA and England could meet at World Cup 2026 in the days after July 4
The United States are in Group D alongside Paraguay, Australia and Turkey, while England headline Group L with Croatia, Panama and Ghana.
Because the teams sit in different groups, there is no way for them to meet before the knockout rounds — and the structure of the expanded bracket keeps their paths apart through the Round of 32 and the Round of 16, too.
The earliest they can collide is the quarterfinals, played from July 9th to 11th. The cleanest route is for the United States to win Group D and England to finish second in Group L, a split that would funnel both into the same last-eight tie in Los Angeles.
There is a second quarterfinal path. Should the Americans come second in Group D and England squeeze through as one of the eight best third-placed sides, their lines can cross in Kansas City — again inside that July 9th-11th window.
If the results fall another way, the next crossing point is a semifinal on July 14th or 15th, in Dallas or Atlanta.
And there is a tantalizing outlier. If both teams top their groups, they are kept on opposite sides of the draw entirely, meaning the only place they could meet would be the final itself on July 19th at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Whenever it lands, it would be a game for the ages.
England have never found a way past the United States in three World Cup meetings stretching back to 1950, and a fourth on American soil — in the very week the hosts toast 250 years of independence — would give an old rivalry a stage to match its history.
READ MORE: What needs to happen for USA vs Iran at World Cup 2026
