match-up with Concacaf rival Canada<\/a> comes with numerous challenges \u2014 from the Jesse Marsch factor to the familiarity of the opponent and the recent matchup issues with Canada. Switzerland beat the U.S., 4-0, last year. Bosnia and Herzegovina proved to be talented and resolute. Qatar would be the best-case scenario, if not the most far-fetched.<\/p>\nIf the U.S. finishes second, it\u2019d move to the other half of the bracket and play the second-place finisher in Group G, which is made up of Belgium, Egypt, New Zealand and \u2026 Iran. Yes, with the nations currently at war, the U.S. could very well wind up facing Iran at this World Cup.<\/p>\n
If the U.S. finishes third, it would face either the winner of Group I (France, Senegal, Norway, Iraq), Group E (Germany, Cura\u00e7ao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador) or Group K (Portugal, Uzbekistan, Colombia or DR Congo). It opens up a world of possibilities.<\/p>\n
The most likely scenario as determined by FIFA is Group E, at 64.2%, which means a showdown with Germany. There is also a 30% chance of Group I, which would likely be France. Neither is ideal.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/WorldCupBracket_OGSWEDISHHOUSEMAFIAv2-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Last 16<\/p>\n
A win in the knockout phase if the U.S. finishes first in the group would mean advancing to face the winner of Group G\u2019s winner against a third-place finisher from groups A, E, H, I or J. That could mean a date with either Belgium or Egypt back in Seattle. Or, if you fancy an upset or two, maybe a team like Senegal or Norway.<\/p>\n
If the U.S. finishes second in the group and wins its first knockout game, it\u2019d face the winner of Group J against the runner up from Group H. That could mean Group J favorite Argentina or potential Group H runners-up Uruguay. A potential path to a World Cup final would include taking out the reigning World Cup champion Argentina and likely ending Lionel Messi\u2019s legendary international career.<\/p>\n
The scenarios of finishing third vary wildly. In the most likely scenarios, it\u2019s probably a showdown against France or Germany. Again, not ideal. But continue to entertain the possibilities.<\/p>\n
Quarterfinal<\/p>\n
If the U.S. manages to win the group, down a tough slate of potential third-place opponents and then knock out a top-flight team like Belgium, Egypt, Senegal or Norway, it has the winner of games that will feature second-place finishers in Groups K and L and the Group H winner against second-place in Group J. That could mean the winner of a Colombia-Spain or Croatia-Spain match-up back in L.A. Gulp.<\/p>\n
A second-place group finish might, in some ways, actually set up slightly better in the quarterfinal stage (that would, of course, require beating Argentina in the round of 16)\u00a0with a date against Group B winners \u2014\u00a0perhaps Canada, Switzerland or Bosnia and Herzegovina \u2014\u00a0or Group K winners \u2014\u00a0maybe Portugal or Colombia.<\/p>\n
If the U.S. finished third and managed to survive a France-Germany gauntlet over the next two rounds, it could see a team like Morocco or the Netherlands \u2013 or even a potential Concacaf rival like Canada or Mexico.<\/p>\n
![\"Spain](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2268676818.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n This late in the World Cup, teams like Lamine Yamal\u2019s Spain would be expected to be looming (Alex Caparros \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Semifinal<\/p>\n
Congratulations to the U.S. team, which, in this dream scenario, has now advanced further than any American men\u2019s team since the inaugural 1930 World Cup. It has downed some of the tournament favorites on the way to this stage. The entire country is engaged.<\/p>\n
A sold-out crowd at AT&T Stadium is there to see a team that won its group, downed a tough third-place team, knocked out Belgium and stunned Spain. At this stage, you\u2019re only getting heavyweights. The likeliest contenders? Germany, France or the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
If the team has navigated a second-place group finish, it\u2019s a home crowd in Atlanta awaiting an American side that has likely beaten Egypt or Belgium, ended Messi\u2019s international career and then got a hard-earned win over Portugal or Colombia or a co-host showdown against Canada.<\/p>\n
The reward is a semifinal with tournament favorites like England or Brazil \u2014 or other relative underdogs like Norway, Ecuador, Japan or Mexico.<\/p>\n
Final<\/p>\n
This is it. The impossible dream. Mauricio Pochettino has delivered the U.S. to the promised land.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a final now for the group winners and at this point, does it matter who the opponent is? The U.S. is in heaven, enjoying the spoils that come with the most improbable run in the tournament\u2019s history. The talk now is about how such success will impact the growth of the sport in the country, and whether the U.S. lifts the trophy or not, it would be guaranteed that this team would be remembered as the greatest American men\u2019s team of all time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This summer\u2019s World Cup will be the ultimate clash of belief and expectation with reality. The core players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":864616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[157951,55985,10031,49,978,46400,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-864615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-fifa-mens-world-cup","9":"tag-international-football","10":"tag-soccer","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-us","13":"tag-us-mens-national-team","14":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116328943463141075","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"USMNT](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2219187988-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n