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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Jamie Braidwood

Who could USA play in World Cup knockouts and when would it be?

The United States are flying at the World Cup after starting their tournament with back-to-back victories.

The co-hosts added to their opening thumping of Paraguay with a dominant performance against Australia in Seattle.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side are top of Group D and are through to the knockout stages with a game to spare.

Their place in the last-32 as group winners was even secured when Turkey lost 1-0 to Paraguay in the later game.

The USA play Turkey next in their final Group D fixture – on Thursday 25 June in Los Angeles – but this will have no bearing on group position and simply see the US aim to continue momentum.

USA’s route at World Cup as group winners

As winners of Group D, USA will play one of the third-placed teams who advance to the last 32. Their opponent would either come from Group B, Group E, Group F, Group I or Group J. As it stands, that’s set to be Bosnia-Herzegovina – but that is likely to change by the end of the group stages.

USA celebrate Alex Freeman’s goal against Australia (Getty)
USA celebrate Alex Freeman’s goal against Australia (Getty)

However, what’s locked is in the time and location of the last-32 clash, as the USA head to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara for their last-32 match on Wednesday 1 July, with kick-off at 5pm local time (1am BST on Thursday 2 July). Levi’s Stadium the home of the San Francisco 49ers, known as the Bay Area Stadium for the purposes of the World Cup.

Should the USA progress to the last 16, they would then play either the winner of Group G or another of the third-placed teams who progress to the knockout stages. Group G contains Belgium, Iran, New Zealand and Egypt. If the USA play in that match, they would return to Lumen Field, Seattle on Tuesday 6 July.

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