As the 2026 FIFA World Cup nears its kickoff, all eyes are turning to Group D, where co-host the United States will face three familiar foes: Australia, Paraguay, and Turkey. The U.S. men’s national team has already squared off against each of their group stage opponents in international friendlies over the past 12 months – dropping a 2-1 decision to Turkey last June, before securing identical 2-1 wins over Australia and Paraguay that fall.
All Group D matches will be contested across western North America, with host venues spread across Vancouver, British Columbia; Seattle, Washington; Santa Clara, California (located south of San Francisco); and Inglewood, California, adjacent to Los Angeles. Group D is one of just four 2026 World Cup groups that will play all their matches within a single time zone, joining Group G (also based on the U.S. West Coast) and Groups C and I, which are hosted entirely on the East Coast.
For the U.S. side, the tournament brings mixed expectations as the team chases a historic deep run on home soil. Ranked 16th in the world entering the tournament, the Americans benefit from their seeding as a co-host, and have been drawn in a manageable group that opens against 27th-ranked Australia, followed by matches against 40th-ranked Paraguay and 22nd-ranked Turkey. Still, the squad faces notable structural weaknesses: analysts widely agree this is the shallowest, weakest goalkeeper cohort the U.S. has fielded since the 1980s, and only one starting-caliber central defender, Chris Richards, plies his trade in a top European league. The team’s biggest star, Christian Pulisic, has struggled for form ahead of the tournament, entering April mired in a scoring drought that has stretched all the way back to 2024, when he last found the back of the net in international play. Two key veterans from the 2022 World Cup squad – midfielder Tyler Adams and right back Sergiño Dest, who were part of the team that fell to the Netherlands in the 2022 Round of 16 – are also managing persistent fitness issues heading into the opening match.
It has been nearly a century since the U.S. last reached a World Cup semifinal, a milestone the 1930 inaugural tournament squad achieved, and more than two decades since the Americans last advanced to the quarterfinals. The 2002 side, fueled by young breakout talents Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley, remains the last U.S. team to make a deep tournament run. Following the U.S.’s early group stage exit at the 2024 Copa America, veteran manager Mauricio Pochettino stepped in to replace former head coach Gregg Berhalter, tasked with unlocking the young squad’s potential on home soil.
Group D’s third-ranked side by FIFA ranking, Turkey, is making a long-awaited return to soccer’s biggest stage. Nicknamed the Crescent Stars, Turkey shocked global soccer fans with a semifinal run at the 2002 World Cup and repeated the deep run performance at the 2008 European Championship, but had failed to qualify for five consecutive World Cup tournaments before breaking that drought this cycle. They secured their 2026 spot with a playoff win over Kosovo, marking just the third World Cup appearance in the nation’s history – their first came back in 1954.
Led by head coach Vincenzo Montella, a former star striker for Roma who took over the national side in September 2023 after replacing Stefan Kuntz, Turkey has already proven its ability to compete at the top level: Montella steered the team to a quarterfinal finish at the 2024 European Championship, after hard-fought playoff wins over both Romania and Kosovo to earn World Cup qualification. Up top, Turkey’s attack is led by captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu, who has notched 22 international goals for his country, and winger Kerem Aktürkoğlu, who has 15 career international goals – including the game-winner that sealed their spot against Kosovo. Turkey has not faced Australia since 2004, and has only ever played Paraguay once, back in 1995, leaving tactical unknowns for all sides ahead of their group matchups.
Paraguay, meanwhile, is also making a return to the World Cup after a 16-year absence. La Albirroja secured the sixth and final automatic qualifying spot from CONMEBOL, South America’s confederation, with a scoreless draw against Ecuador to lock in their place, returning to the tournament for the first time since the 2010 edition. This will mark Paraguay’s ninth World Cup appearance in program history, and their best ever finish came during that last 2010 run, when they advanced all the way to the quarterfinals before falling 1-0 to eventual champion Spain on an 83rd-minute goal from David Villa.
Paraguay’s squad balances veteran leadership and exciting young talent. 32-year-old playmaker Miguel Almirón and 30-year-old striker Antonio Sanabria anchor the attacking line, while 22-year-old Julio Enciso and 23-year-old Diego Gómez bring fresh energy and pace to the squad as the next generation of Paraguayan soccer talent. Like the U.S., Paraguay made a late managerial change after a poor showing at the 2024 Copa America: Gustavo Alfaro took over from former coach Daniel Garnero after the team finished winless with three losses in the 2024 tournament.
Completing Group D is Australia, the Socceroos, who enter the tournament fresh off their best World Cup performance in decades at the 2022 edition. After four consecutive early group stage exits, Australia defied expectations in 2022, picking up group stage wins over Tunisia and Denmark to advance to the knockout round, where they pushed eventual champion Argentina all the way before falling 2-1 in the Round of 16.
Australia’s squad is led by veteran goalkeeper Matthew Ryan, who will become one of the few players in World Cup history to feature in four consecutive tournaments when he takes the pitch this year. The Socceroos also made a late managerial change during qualifying: former national team defender Tony Popovic took over from long-time coach Graham Arnold in September 2024, after inconsistent qualifying results that included a home loss to Bahrain and a draw against Indonesia. Arnold, who had served two separate stints as Socceroos head coach, was hired to take over the Iraqi national team in May 2025.