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The magnificent start of the United States men’s national team in the 2026 World Cup has fans dreaming of a deep run in the knockout stage.
After winning its first two matches of the tournament to win Group D, USMNT has assured itself it will play in the knockout round. Even with the loss to Turkey, given how hot the team has looked, there’s momentum building toward winning multiple knockout stage matches, trying to get to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002 or its best finish of third place in 1930.
But if it continues toward the path to glory, who could the U.S. play?
USMNT still needs to handle its business in the knockout round, but let’s take a look at what could be awaiting the U.S. in the round of 16.
The U.S. knows it will face Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 on July 1. As for the round of 16, it still could be a plethora of teams, but there’s a rough idea of who it could be.
In the bracket, if the U.S. wins its round of 32 match, it will play in the round of 16 against who wins the game between the Group G winner and a third place team from Group A, H, I or J.
As of Wednesday, June 25, the winner of Group G is projected to be Egypt. The Group G standings currently are:
As for the third place team from the four groups, it could be:
In the USA TODAY Sports projection, the match is predicted to be Egypt (Group G winner) vs. South Korea (Group A third place).
If the U.S. is able to win its round of 32 match on Wednesday, July 1 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, the round of 16 match would be Monday, July 6 at Lumen Field in Seattle.
Here is the path of USMNT in the knockout round:
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