2026 FIFA World Cup Group D
FIFA World Cup group
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Group D of the 2026 FIFA World Cup is taking place from June 12 to 25, 2026.[1] The group consists of the United States (co-host), Paraguay, Australia, and Turkey. The top two teams, possibly along with the third-placed team, will advance to the round of 32.[2]
Teams
| Draw position | Team | Pot | Confederation | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Previous best performance |
FIFA Rankings[3][4] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2025[nb 1] | June 2026 | |||||||||
| D1 |  United States | 1 | CONCACAF | Co-host | February 14, 2023[nb 2] | 12th | 2022 | Third place (1930) | 14 | 17 |
| D2 |  Paraguay | 3 | CONMEBOL | CONMEBOL round robin sixth place | September 4, 2025 | 9th | 2010 | Quarterfinals (2010) | 39 | 41 |
| D3 |  Australia | 2 | AFC | AFC third round Group C runner-up | June 10, 2025 | 7th | 2022 | Round of 16 (2006, 2022) | 26 | 27 |
| D4 |  Turkey | 4[nb 3] | UEFA | UEFA second round Path C winner | March 31, 2026 | 3rd | 2002 | Third place (2002) | 25[nb 3] | 22 |
Notes
- The rankings of November 2025 were used for seeding for the final draw.[5]
- Although the United bid was selected on June 13, 2018, the automatic berths allocated to the hosts were not confirmed until a decision by the FIFA Council on February 14, 2023.[6]
- As the identity of the UEFA second round Path C winner was not known at the time of the final draw, positions in the FIFA Rankings were not taken into account, and the placeholder in the draw was automatically seeded into pot 4.[5]
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Position will qualify for: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States (H, A) |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Australia |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3 | Paraguay |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 3 | Possible knockout stage based on ranking |
| 4 | Turkey (E) |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 0 |
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(A) Advance to a further round; (E) Eliminated; (H) Hosts
In the round of 32:[2]
- The winner of Group D will advance to play the third-placed team of Group B, Group E, Group F, Group I, or Group J.
- The runner-up of Group D will advance to play the runner-up of Group G.
- The third-placed team of Group D might advance to play the winner of Group E, Group I, or Group K (if one of the eight best third-placed teams from the group stage).
Matches
All times listed are local, UTC−7 (PDT).[1]
United States vs Paraguay
The teams had met nine times previously, including once in the World Cup, a 3–0 victory in the group stage for the United States in 1930, and most recently in 2025, a 2–1 win for the United States in a friendly. This match marked the United States' second victory on home soil since their 2–1 win over Colombia in the 1994 edition.[7]
The United States went in front in the 7th minute when Damián Bobadilla stuck his foot out and inadvertently put the ball in his own net after a low from the left by Weston McKennie. It was 2-0 in the 31st minute when Folarin Balogun scored with a low side foot finish to the right after a pass from Christian Pulisic on the left. Balogun got his second goal of the game in added time in the first half when he scored with a left-footed shot to the top left corner of the net after cutting in from the right. Maurício pulled a goal back for Paraguay in the 73rd minute with a low finish to the right of the net. In the 98th minute, Giovanni Reyna made it 4-1 with a shot to the left of the net with the outside of his right leg from just inside the penalty area on the right.[8]
Folarin Balogun with a brace, became the first American player to score more than once in a World Cup match since Bert Patenaude scored the tournament's first ever hat-trick in 1930.[9] This also marked the first time the United States ever scored four times in a World Cup match.[10]
| United States | 4–1 | Paraguay |
|---|---|---|
| [Report 1] |
|
         United States[11]
|
     Paraguay[11]
|
|
 |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[11]
|
Australia vs Turkey
The teams had played against each other twice previously, with Turkey winning both friendly matches played in May 2004.[13] The fixture was Turkey's first World Cup game in 24 years,[14] having reached the semi-finals in their previous appearance in 2002. Turkey captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu described his side as "more talented" than Australia in a press conference prior to the game, and predicted his side would dominate the game.[14]
Socceroos coach Tony Popović made a controversial decision to drop seasoned goalkeeper and skipper Mathew Ryan from the starting lineup in favour of young goalkeeper Patrick Beach.[15] In the 27th minute, Nestory Irankunda cut in from the left and scored with a low finish to the left to put Australia in the lead. In the second half, despite mounting pressure from Turkey, Aussie midfielder Connor Metcalfe made it 2-0 when he cut in from the right before shooting low to the right corner of the net from outside the penalty area.[16][17]
Regarded as an upset victory, this was Australia's first win in an opening World Cup match since 2006, and their joint-largest victory to date.[18]
    Australia[19]
|
    Turkey[19]
|
|
 |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[19]
|
United States vs Australia
The teams have faced each other four times prior to the tournament, most recently in 2025, a 2–1 win for the United States in a friendly.[20]
 United States[21]
|
 Australia[21]
|
|
 |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[21]
|
Turkey vs Paraguay
The teams have only met once before, in a scoreless draw of a friendly in 1995.[22]
Turkey's loss in this match confirmed their elimination from the tournament due to the first tiebreaker, head-to-head results. This marked their first early exit from a major tournament since UEFA Euro 2020, where they were eliminated after losing two consecutive matches. Should Turkey defeat the United States in their final group-stage match and the Australia vs Paraguay match ended with a winner, Turkey would still finish fourth in the group due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. It was also the first time that Turkey failed to score in two consecutive World Cup matches.
Miguel Almirón became the first player to be sent off under FIFA's new law prohibiting players from covering their mouths during confrontations with opponents, receiving a straight red card after a VAR review following an altercation with Mert Müldür in the stoppage time of the first half.[23]
| Turkey | 0–1 | Paraguay |
|---|---|---|
| [Report 4] |
|
    Turkey[24]
|
Paraguay[24]
|
|
 |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[24]
|
Turkey vs United States
The teams have faced each other five times prior to the tournament, most recently in 2025, a 2–1 win for Turkey in a friendly.[25]
| Turkey | Match 59 | United States |
|---|---|---|
| [Report 5] |
Turkey
|
    United States
|
Paraguay vs Australia
The teams have previously faced each other five times, most recently in 2010, a 1–0 win for Australia in a friendly match.[26]
| Paraguay | Match 60 | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| [Report 6] |
    Paraguay
|
Australia
|
Discipline
The team conduct ("fair play") score will be used as a tiebreaker if the head-to-head and overall records of teams are tied. It will also be used as a tiebreaker for the third-place ranking between groups if the overall records of teams are tied. The score will be calculated based on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials in all group matches as follows:[2]
- yellow card: −1 point;
- indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
- direct red card: −4 points;
- yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
Only one of the above deductions can be applied to a player or team official in a single match.
| Team | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Score | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||
| Turkey |
1 | 2 | −3 | ||||||||||
| Australia |
4 | –4 | |||||||||||
| United States |
1 | 3 | −4 | ||||||||||
| Paraguay |
5 | 2 | 1 | −11 | |||||||||