Group D sees hosts USA joined by Paraguay alongside Australia and European Playoff Winner Turkey. This could be the closet fought group of the opening phase.
USA –
USA have played a series of friendlies, as hosts recently losing 5-2 to Belgium and 2-0 to Portugal.
In the Autumn as hosts they played friendlies at home and beat Australia 2-1, Paraguay 2-1 and Uruguay 5-1.
Last summer they played in the Concacaf Gold Cup beating Trinidad & Tobago 5-0, Saudi Arabia 1-0 and Haiti 2-1 to win their group.
A penalty shootout win over Costa Rica after a 2-2 draw saw then into the semi final where they beat Guatemala 2-1 before losing the final 2-1 to Mexico.
USA are managed by former Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino.
USA goalkeeper will likely be Matt Freese who has recently taken over the gloves from Matt Turner
In defence USA are unlikely to see the return from injury of Celtic’s Cameron Carter-Vickers Johnston but the squad is likely to include his club mate Auston Trusty. Captain Tim Ream played at the 2022 World Cup and will play alongside Mark McKenzie of Toulouse , Antonee Robinson of Fulham and Chris Richards of Crystal Palace. Sergiño Dest of PSV could start at wing back.
In midfield former Rangers player Malik Tilman will be partnered with Weston McKennie of Juventus and Giovanni Reyna , son of former Rangers and USA star Claudio Reyna. Tyler Adams of Bournemouth and formerly with Leeds Utd is also a mainstay of the squad.
USA goal threat comes from Timothy Weah formerly with Celtic and son of legend George Weah. He will be partnered with former Chelsea striker Christian Pulisic now with AC Milan and Leeds Utd’s Brenden Aaronson. Monaco’s Folarin Balogun will also feature. Derby County’s Patrick Agyemang will miss the tournament after picking up a recent serious injury.
Paraguay –
Paraguay qualified from the South American group in sixth place and claimed the final automatic spot. This was however only decided on goal difference with Colombia, Uruguay , Brazil and Paraguay all finishing on 28pts , one point behind runners up Ecuador.
Since qualifying Paraguay have played a number of friendlies with mixed results most recently beating Greece 1-0 away and losing 2-1 to Morocco in France.
Paraquay are managed by Argentinian Gustavo Alfaro
In goal will be Gatito Fernández with back up Orlando Gil, Gastón Olveira from Olimpia has recently made his debut after changing allegiance from Uruguay.
The defence is led by captain Gustavo Gómez, alongside Sunderland’s Omar Alderete and Júnior Alonso.
Midfield includes former Newcastle man Miguel Almirón with former Nottingham Forest player Ramón Sosa and Brighton’s Diego Gómez. Playmaker Maurício Prado, from Palmeiras is another to recently agree to change to Paraguay and made his debut recently although born in Brazil.
Paraguay will have the experience of Gabriel Ávalos in attack alongside young exciting winger Julio Enciso of Strasbourg.
Australia –
Australia began Asian qualifying winning all of their 6 Second Round games to progress with the top 2 from 9 Groups to the Third Round.
In the Third Round they finished 2nd behind Japan in a 6 team Group as they both went through as automatic qualifier.
Australia played friendly matches during October and November 2025 beating Canada 1-0 in Montreal before losing 3 games in USA – 2-1 to USA, 1-0 to Venezuela and 3-0 to Colombia.
In March 2026 FIFA series they beat Cameroon 1-0 and Curacao 5-1, both in Australia.
Australia manager is Tony Popovic
Matt Ryan is their goalkeeper and captain.
The defence has Jordon Bos of Feyernoord and Aziz Behich with former Hearts man Kye Rowles. Harry Souttar of Leicester City has recently returned from injury and may make the squad, his brother John Souttar is likely to feature for Scotland.
The midfield includes Ajdin Hrustić and Middlesborough’s Riley McGree, and former Ross County player Jackson Irvine.
Australia’s attack should feature Hibs Martin Boyle, but the recent introduction of 20 yo Watford striker Nestory Irankunda could bring additional attacking flair. Norwich City’s Mohamed Touré could also feature.
Turkey –
Bosnia finished second behind Spain in European qualifying and went on to qualify for World Cup 2026 via the playoffs. A 1-0 home win over Romania was followed by a 1-0 away win over Kosovo in the final.
Turkey are managed by Italian Vincenzo Montella
Ugurcan Çakir of Galatasaray is the Turkish goalkeeper with back up Mert Günok of Fenerbache.
The defence is led Ozan Kabak, alongside him are Abdülkerim Bardakcı and Merih Demiral
Midfield includes captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu of Inter Milan and Orkun Kökçü
Real Madrid’s Arda Güler could be one of the young stars of the World Cup supplying Kerem Aktürkoğlu and Kenan Yıldız of Juventus.
Group D Fixtures
13/6/26 2am USA v Paraguay
14/6/26 5am Australia v Turkey
19/6/26 8pm USA v Australia
20/6/26 4am Turkey v Paraquay
26/6/26 3am USA v Turkey
26/6/26 3am Paraguay v Australia
PREDICTIONS
I can see an opening draw between USA and Paraquay in a tight match
I would expect Turkey to beat Australia in their opening game.
USA will want to put on a show as a host nation and beat Australia, while Turkey beat Paraguay in another tight match.
I can see USA getting a draw with Turkey as the Turks win the group on 7pts, and USA in second place on 5pts.
Paraquay will beat Australia to end on 4pts and await their fate as a third place team.
Australia I fear will end with three defeats.
Group D does seem the most wide open with pundits finding it hard to choose between USA and Turkey as group winners and 3rd place between Paraguay and Australia.
1st Place prediction – Turkey 7pts
2nd Place prediction – USA 5pts
3rd Place prediction – Paraquay 4pts GD 0
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