The World Cup is underway with some incredible matches already in the books! Following Canada’s dominant 6-0 victory over Qatar and Mexico’s 1-0 win against Korea Republic, fellow 2026 World Cup co-host the United States face Australia in a pivotal second group-stage encounter. I’m Francesco Porzio with the just in and all you need to know ahead of the game.
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📺 Footy fix
All times U.S./Eastern
Friday, June 19
🏆 World Cup: United States vs. Australia, 3 p.m. ➡️ FOX
🏆 World Cup: Scotland vs. Morocco, 6 p.m. ➡️ FOX
🏆 World Cup: Brazil vs. Haiti, 8:30 p.m. ➡️ FOX
🏆 World Cup: Turkiye vs. Paraguay, 11 p.m. ➡️ FS1
Saturday, June 20
🏆 World Cup: Netherlands vs. Sweden, 1 p.m. ➡️ FOX
🏆 World Cup: Germany vs. Cote d’Ivoire, 4 p.m. ➡️ FOX
🏆 World Cup: Ecuador vs. Curacao, 8 p.m. ➡️ FS1
Sunday, June 21
🏆 World Cup: Tunisia vs. Japan, 12 a.m. ➡️ FS1
🏆 World Cup: Spain vs. Saudi Arabia, 12 p.m. ➡️ FOX
🏆 World Cup: Belgium vs. Iran, 3 p.m. ➡️ FS1
🏆 World Cup: Uruguay vs. Cabo Verde, 6 p.m. ➡️ FS1
🏆 World Cup: New Zealand vs. Egypt, 9 p.m. ➡️ FS1
🏆 USMNT scenarios
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The USMNT can potentially secure first place in the Group D if they win against Australia on Friday and Turkiye don’t win against Paraguay. Let’s take a look at all the possible scenarios ahead of the second game of the group stage:
- The USMNT will advance to the knockout stage if: They beat Australia
- The USMNT will win the group if: They beat Australia AND Turkiye fail to beat Paraguay
Turkiye are set to face Paraguay on Friday, and if they lose, they would not be able to reach the USMNT on total points in any scenario that plays out. Even if the USMNT secure three points against Australia, but Turkiye manage to beat Paraguay, the Americans would still lock up advancing to the knockout stage. A potential second-place finish in the group carries different paths for future opponents with different bracket positioning. With the World Cup expanded to 48 teams, first and second-place finishers in the group stages will advance, and eight of the 12 third-place teams will also reach the round of 32. Though with early wins by the USMNT and Australia on Matchday 1, both teams are already well-positioned to move on. The winner on Friday, however, will make another statement and head the group.
Potential opponents in the knockout stages
If they finish first in Group D: They advance to play the best third-place team from Groups B, E, F, I, or J at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara (Bay Area) on July 1. A win there would send them to the round of 16 in Seattle on July 6, then a potential quarterfinal at SoFi Stadium in LA on July 10, and a potential semifinal at AT&T Stadium outside Dallas on July 14. Finishing first keeps the USMNT out west for as long as possible. Potential third-place opponents from those groups could include:
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Switzerland
- Canada
- Ivory Coast
- Ecuador
- Curacao
- Sweden
- Japan
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Senegal
- Jordan
- Austria
If they finish 2nd in Group D: They would face the Group G runner-up at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas area on July 3. That winner would advance to the round of 16 in Atlanta on July 7, a quarterfinal in Kansas City on July 11, and a semifinal in Atlanta on July 15. Group G runner-up candidates include:
- New Zealand
- Iran
- Belgium
- Egypt
If they finish 3rd in Group D: It gets complicated. The expansion of the tournament means the eight best third-place teams still advance to the round of 32, but with many different combinations of how those third-place teams get seeded into the bracket, the path becomes very hard to project. At this point, the scenario seems unlikely.
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Golazo 48 Nations: Follow the World Cup all summer long
Golazo 48 Nations is your all-access destination for the World Cup, with wall-to-wall coverage across the CBS Sports Golazo Network. From the first whistle to the final recap, the entire Golazo crew will guide fans through every moment of the tournament.
Each day begins with Morning Footy, setting the stage with the just in news, storylines, and previews ahead of kickoff. From there, Golazo Matchday and Golazo Matchnight deliver reaction and analysis as the action unfolds. Fans can also tune in for coverage of USMNT matches with the Call It What You Want team, as well as reaction to other marquee matchups.
The day wraps with Scoreline, a comprehensive nightly recap of every result, moment, and storyline from across the tournament. Altogether, the Golazo Network will deliver up to 12 hours of live programming each matchday, available across the Golazo Network and its YouTube channel.
