WC 2026 Group D Guide: Squads and Fixtures

The 2026 World Cup Group D has historic significance for Türkiye. Türkiye is returning to the World Cup stage after a 24-year gap. The team under Vincenzo Montella's management advanced to the final by beating Romania 1-0 on March 26, 2026 at the Istanbul Tüpraş Stadium with Ferdi Kadıoğlu's 53rd-minute goal in the play-off stage; with a 1-0 victory at Kosovo on March 31 in the play-off final, it pocketed its World Cup ticket. Host USA, Paraguay from CONMEBOL and Asian representative Australia are in the group. The matches will be played on the US west coast in Los Angeles, Seattle and Santa Clara and in the Canadian city of Vancouver. While USA participates directly in this World Cup as host, Paraguay returns to the big arena for the first time after a 16-year gap. Australia, on the other hand, is preparing for its sixth consecutive World Cup participation.

Team Profiles and Announced Squads

🇺🇸 USA (Manager: Mauricio Pochettino) Argentine Pochettino, who managed European giants like Tottenham, PSG and Chelsea, was brought to the head of the USMNT in September 2024. 13 players in the squad were also in the 2022 Qatar World Cup squad; the other 13 players will experience the World Cup for the first time. Tyler Adams (Bournemouth) returned to the squad after injury; the selection of Gio Reyna, who has been out of form for a long time, was evaluated as a surprise.

• Goalkeepers: Matt Turner (New England Revolution), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Chris Brady (Chicago Fire)
• Defenders: Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Alex Freeman (Villarreal), Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Auston Trusty (Celtic)
• Midfielders: Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders)
• Attacking midfielders/Wingers: Christian Pulisic (Milan — captain, 84 caps, team's top scorer), Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen), Tim Weah (Marseille), Alejandro Zendejas (Club América)
• Forwards: Folarin Balogun (Monaco), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), Haji Wright (Coventry City)

🇵🇾 Paraguay (Manager: Gustavo Alfaro) Argentine manager Alfaro took Paraguay to the World Cup after a 16-year gap. Alfaro had managed Ecuador at the 2022 World Cup. Paraguay completed the CONMEBOL qualifiers in second place 10 points behind Argentina and got the cup ticket directly. During the qualifying process, beating Argentina 2-1 and Brazil at home stood as a sign of success.

• Goalkeepers: Roberto Fernández, Carlos Coronel, Gerardo Ortiz
• Defenders: Gustavo Gómez (Palmeiras — captain, 88 caps), Júnior Alonso (Atlético Mineiro), Fabián Balbuena (Grêmio), Omar Alderete (Sunderland), Juan Cáceres (Dynamo Moscow), Gustavo Velázquez (Cerro Porteño), José Canale (Lanús), Alexandro Maidana (Talleres — 20)
• Midfielders: Andrés Cubas (Vancouver Whitecaps), Diego Gómez (Brighton & Hove Albion), Damián Bobadilla (São Paulo), Matías Galarza (Atlanta United), Kaku Romero Gamarra (Al-Ain), Braian Ojeda (Orlando City), Maurício Magalhães (Palmeiras)
• Forwards: Antonio Sanabria (Cremonese — 4 goals in qualifying), Miguel Almirón (Atlanta United), Julio Enciso (Strasbourg — 22, 3 goals in qualifying), Álex Arce (Independiente Rivadavia), Isidro Pitta (Red Bull Bragantino), Ramón Sosa (Palmeiras), Gabriel Ávalos (Independiente), Gustavo Caballero (Portsmouth)

🇦🇺 Australia (Manager: Tony Popovic) Popovic, who was in the 2006 World Cup squad, took office in September 2024 replacing Graham Arnold. Australia is participating in its sixth consecutive World Cup; making its seventh participation in total. It got the ticket directly as group runner-up after Japan in Asian qualifiers; beating Saudi Arabia 2-1 away in Riyadh on June 10, 2025 was one of the critical moments. Mat Ryan as captain will be joining the record of 4 World Cups held by Tim Cahill and Mark Milligan by going to his fourth World Cup.

• Goalkeepers: Mat Ryan (Levante — captain, 4th WC), Patrick Beach, Paul Izzo
• Defenders: Aziz Behich (A-League), Alessandro Circati (Parma), Harry Souttar, Hayden Matthews, Lucas Herrington, Cameron Burgess, Kai Trewin, Joel King
• Midfielders: Jackson Irvine (St. Pauli — 14 international goals), Connor Metcalfe (St. Pauli), Aiden O'Neill (Standard Liège), Paul Okon-Engstler (Sydney FC), Ryan Teague
• Forwards: Mathew Leckie (Melbourne City — 14 international goals, 4th WC), Nishan Velupillay, Nestory Irankunda (Bayern Munich II — 19), Cristian Volpato (Sassuolo — included after switching nations in late May), Tete Yengi (Ipswich), Mitch Duke, Adam Taggart, Kusini Yengi

🇹🇷 Türkiye (Manager: Vincenzo Montella) Italian manager Montella took over as head of the national team in September 2023 replacing Stefan Kuntz. Türkiye under his management had advanced to the quarter-final at EURO 2024 and finished second in a difficult group at the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The Crescent-Stars defeated Romania 1-0 on March 26 at the Istanbul Tüpraş Stadium with Ferdi Kadıoğlu's goal scored in the 53rd minute from Arda Güler's assist in the play-off semi-final; in the final on March 31 in Pristina, they beat Kosovo 1-0 and reached the first World Cup after 2002. The trio of Arda Güler, Kenan Yıldız and Hakan Çalhanoğlu stands out as the team's star names.

• Goalkeepers: Altay Bayındır (Manchester United), Mert Günok (Fenerbahçe), Uğurcan Çakır (Galatasaray)
• Defenders: Abdülkerim Bardakcı (Galatasaray), Çağlar Söyüncü (Fenerbahçe), Eren Elmalı (Galatasaray), Ferdi Kadıoğlu (Brighton & Hove Albion), Merih Demiral (Al-Ahli), Mert Müldür (Fenerbahçe), Ozan Kabak (Hoffenheim), Samet Akaydın (Çaykur Rizespor), Zeki Çelik (Roma)
• Midfielders: Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Inter), İsmail Yüksek (Fenerbahçe), Kaan Ayhan (Galatasaray), Orkun Kökçü (Beşiktaş), Salih Özcan (Borussia Dortmund)
• Forwards: Arda Güler (Real Madrid), Barış Alper Yılmaz (Galatasaray), Can Uzun (Eintracht Frankfurt), Deniz Gül (FC Porto), İrfan Can Kahveci (Kasımpaşa), Kenan Yıldız (Juventus), Kerem Aktürkoğlu (Fenerbahçe), Oğuz Aydın (Fenerbahçe), Yunus Akgün (Galatasaray)

Group D Fixtures (Local Time)

Matchday 1 — Friday, June 12, 2026

• USA vs Paraguay | SoFi Stadium, Inglewood (Los Angeles) | 18:00 (local PT)

Matchday 1 — Saturday, June 13, 2026

• Australia vs Türkiye | BC Place, Vancouver | 21:00 (local PT)

Matchday 2 — Friday, June 19, 2026

• USA vs Australia | Lumen Field, Seattle | 12:00 (local PT)
• Türkiye vs Paraguay | Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara | 21:00 (local PT)

Matchday 3 — Thursday, June 25, 2026

• Türkiye vs USA | SoFi Stadium, Inglewood (Los Angeles) | 19:00 (local PT)
• Paraguay vs Australia | Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara | 19:00 (local PT)

The group winner and runner-up will advance directly to the round of 32, while the third-placed team will be evaluated based on the performance of the third-place teams of other groups. The 8 best third-place teams will also join the round of 32.

Europe and Turkey Times

Friday, June 12, 2026

• USA - Paraguay: 03:00 CEST (June 13) | 04:00 TST (June 13)

Saturday, June 13, 2026

• Australia - Türkiye: 06:00 CEST (June 14) | 07:00 TST (June 14)

Friday, June 19, 2026

• USA - Australia: 21:00 CEST | 22:00 TST
• Türkiye - Paraguay: 06:00 CEST (June 20) | 07:00 TST (June 20)

Thursday, June 25, 2026

• Türkiye - USA: 04:00 CEST (June 26) | 05:00 TST (June 26)
• Paraguay - Australia: 04:00 CEST (June 26) | 05:00 TST (June 26)

Image: ca.sports.yahoo.com/