Who could USA play in World Cup knockouts and when would it be?

FootballSports
26 Jun 2026 • 4:36 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

The co-hosts added to their opening thumping of Paraguay with a dominant performance against Australia in Seattle, leaving little on the line as they were beaten by Turkey.

Their place in the last-32 as group winners was secure with a round to spare when Turkey lost 1-0 to Paraguay in the later game.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side therefore progress top of Group D through to the knockout stages, creating a potentially less hazardous route onwards through the tournament.

USA’s route at World Cup as group winners

As winners of Group D, USA will play one of the third-placed teams who advance to the last 32. Their opponent would either come from Group B, Group E, Group F, Group I or Group J. As it stands, that’s set to be Bosnia-Herzegovina – but that is likely to change by the end of the group stages.

However, what’s locked is in the time and location of the last-32 clash, as the USA head to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara for their last-32 match on Wednesday 1 July, with kick-off at 5pm local time (1am BST on Thursday 2 July). Levi’s Stadium the home of the San Francisco 49ers, known as the Bay Area Stadium for the purposes of the World Cup.

Should the USA progress to the last 16, they would then play either the winner of Group G or another of the third-placed teams who progress to the knockout stages. Group G contains Belgium, Iran, New Zealand and Egypt. If the USA play in that match, they would return to Lumen Field, Seattle on Tuesday 6 July.

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