2026 World Cup Group D Preview: United States Faces Paraguay, Turkey, and Uruguay

The New York Post previewed Group D of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where the United States will compete against Paraguay, Turkey, and Uruguay starting June 12 on home soil. The USMNT is favored to win the group with the most talented roster in program history, led by Christian Pulisic, though the team lacks recent success against elite competition. The group is considered manageable for the Americans, but a poor performance would represent wasted potential given the quality of available players.
The New York Post provided a detailed preview of 2026 World Cup Group D, highlighting the United States as favorites with +140 odds to win the group. The USMNT features an unprecedented roster of European-based talent including Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Weston McKennie, Malik Tillman, and others, though manager Mauricio Pochettino has yet to establish a clear tactical identity or prove the team can perform against top-tier opposition. The article noted the Americans have won only one knockout match since 1990 and lost in the Round of 16 in their last three World Cup appearances. Turkey, with stars like Arda Güler (Real Madrid) and Hakan Çalhanoglu, is positioned as the second-strongest team in the group at +175 odds. The preview emphasized that while the US has never brought a better roster to a World Cup, the team must prove it can be more than the sum of its parts and overcome a history of underperformance in knockout stages.
What's missing
The article appears incomplete, cutting off mid-sentence during Turkey's World Cup history section. Complete information about Paraguay and Uruguay—the other two teams in Group D—is not provided in the excerpt, making a full group assessment impossible.
What different sources said
- New York PostRight
World Cup 2026 Group D preview: Prediction, odds, full team overviews
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