The U.S. men’s soccer team has a better-than-it-could-have-been path to start the 2026 World Cup.
The Americans will play Australia, Paraguay and a team to be determined in the cup’s opening group stage next summer. That fourth team in the group will be decided by a playoff earlier next year among Turkey, Romania, Slovakia and Kosovo, USA TODAY reported. On paper, Turkey could be the most challenging if it were to make it to the U.S.’s group — based solely on its worldwide ranking by FIFA — soccer’s global governing body.
The U.S.’s group stage opponents were selected at the World Cup draw on Friday, Dec. 5, at Washington D.C.’s John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.
The United States, Mexico and Canada will host the June 11-to-July 19, 2026, World Cup.
The three host countries had been put in pot 1 of the four pots from which countries were being selected Friday for the four-nation groups that open the competition next summer. By being in pot 1, the U.S. team avoided having to play in opening stage against the top-ranked teams of Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Spain (all were also in pot one).
At the cup’s outset, each country in a four-nation group will pay the other countries in that group to see which teams advance to the next round. Eventually, it leads to quarterfinals and semifinals, then the cup comes down to two nations vying at the July 19 final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.
The U.S. team’s first game is June 12 at California’s SoFi Stadium.
The first World up draw televised live in the U.S., it’s had plenty of officials and celebrities.
Andrea Bocelli sang “Nessun dorma,” the famed aria from Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Turandot,” at noon to open the ceremony.
President Trump, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney attended the draw.
Those assisting in selecting the cup’s opening groups of teams are Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, former NFL quarterback Tom Brady, former hockey titan Wayne Gretzky, and former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal.
Fox televised the draw live, starting at 11:30 a.m. Friday, and its television hosts include Thierry Henry, a legendary former player for France’s national team who played for pro teams FC Barcelona and Arsenal, and Alexi Lalas, who played for the U.S men’s team at the 1994 World Cup, the first time the cup was held in the U.S.