Türkiye vs United States of America | FIFA World Cup 2026 — Group Stage | Preview and Predictions

Türkiye will face co-hosts USA in a dead rubber on 26th June at the Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood.            

For the game, here we present our preview and prediction.

FIFA WC26 | Group D: TUR vs USA| 07:30 IST, June 26, 2026

Türkiye was considered as the dark horse of this tournament with several football pundits touting them as a serious threat. However, they have disappointed their fans with two underwhelming performances which has knocked them out of the World Cup at the Group Stage itself.  

After the surprise loss to Australia, everyone expected them to make a comeback and defeat Paraguay but they lost to them as well even after dominating and having so many scoring chances. 

Türkiye conceded an early goal against Paraguay as early as the second minute. Paraguay also went down to 10-men as forward Miguel Almirón was sent-off in the first half stoppage-time. Although Türkiye played with a numerical advantage for an entire half, they couldn’t score even one goal. They had 78% possession with an expected goals (xG) stat of 2.17, 32 total shots but only five shots on target. Wastefulness and indecisiveness in the final third cost Türkiye in this tournament. Now that they have been knocked out, they would probably want to bow out with a win. 

As for the co-hosts, the World Cup couldn’t have started any better for them. They started their campaign with a 4-1 thrashing of Paraguay and then beat Australia comfortably to ensure qualification for the RO32. The USA might want to rest a few of their starters in this game which could be an advantage for their opponent. 

For Türkiye Yunus Akgün is doubtful for this game due to physical discomfort while Cristian Roland might be absent for the USA due to a muscle injury. 

Türkiye has a lot of top players in their side with many of them playing in top European clubs. Kenan Yildiz, Arda Güler and Hakan Calhanoglu are all popular names in European football. They have been massively wasteful as they lack a proper finisher in their side, which has hurt them big time. The USA has a strong squad and are in great form as well, thus, they cannot be taken lightly. With the co-hosts not too bothered about the result, Türkiye could go all out in this game, express themselves and end their dismal World Cup campaign on a winning note. 

Score Prediction: Türkiye 2-0 USA 

Venue: The Los Angeles Stadium, Inglewood, USA