USMNT cheat sheet: Everything to know for the 2026 FIFA World Cup | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is finally here.

After nearly a decade of preparation, anticipation and occasional consternation, the world’s largest and most beloved sporting event – expanded from the typical 32 countries to 48 – will unfold across North America from June 11 to July 19.

Amid all the soccer fever, no one dares to dream quite as boldly as the host nations, which in this case means co-hosts Canada, Mexico and the United States.

You might be new here (welcome!), or perhaps you’re back, brushing up on the basics as you wade into ‘the beautiful game’ again.

Whatever the case, we’ve got you covered with some essential information about the US men’s national team, who begin their World Cup journey on June 12 in Los Angeles.

What group are the US in?

The United States are in Group D, alongside Türkiye, Australia and Paraguay. All three teams are in the top 40 of the FIFA World Rankings and play each other once. Three points are awarded for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss.

The first- and second-placed finishers advance to the 32-team knockout stages, while the top eight third-place teams can still advance depending on how they stack up to third-place finishers in other groups, based on points, goal differential, goals scored, etc.

In general, a better group-stage finish is supposed to earn you a more manageable path through the knockouts, though the bracket often serves up surprises.

If the USMNT win Group D, they'll stay in California for the Round of 32, meeting another group's third-place finisher in the San Francisco Bay Area on July 1.

Finish second, and they'll duel the runner-up from Group G (Belgium, Egypt, Iran or New Zealand) in Dallas on July 3.

Finish third and advance, and they’ll have to travel a lot further, to one of three potential cities, and face a group winner – in other words, most likely a much tougher opponent.

When are the games? How can I watch?

The USMNT open group play vs. Paraguay on Friday, June 12, the second day of the tournament (9 pm ET | FOX, Telemundo, Peacock).

The scene shifts to Seattle a week later, where the Yanks meet Australia on Friday, June 19 (3 pm ET | FOX, Telemundo, Peacock).

Then they'll return to Los Angeles for their final group-stage match, a duel with Türkiye on Thursday, June 25 (10 pm ET | FOX, Telemundo, Peacock).

With two games in SoCal, the USMNT will set up their base camp at Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California, about an hour down the road from the stadium.

Who is the head coach?

The Yanks are led by Mauricio Pochettino, a charismatic Argentine widely known simply as ‘Poch’ who carries an extensive résumé as both a player – where he represented his country at the 2002 World Cup and starred for the likes of Newell's Old Boys, Espanyol and Paris Saint-Germain in Argentina, Spain and France – and a manager.

He took the reins in September 2024 after his predecessor Gregg Berhalter (now the director of football and head coach at Chicago Fire FC) was dismissed following a subpar showing at the 2024 Copa América, also held on American soil.

Pochettino has led several of Europe’s biggest clubs, including PSG, Chelsea and most memorably, Tottenham Hotspur, who he guided to the 2019 UEFA Champions League final. 

This is the first national-team job of Pochettino's managerial career, though to most observers, he’s nevertheless the most accomplished coach in USMNT history.

While Pochettino's contract expires after the World Cup and he’s already been linked to some high-profile European club openings, he’s repeatedly left open the possibility of agreeing to a new deal and remaining in charge for a longer stint.

Key players

If you’ve watched any television or streaming broadcast lately, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the face of Christian Pulisic, the most accomplished player in the current USMNT pool and quite possibly the best the country has ever produced.

Widely dubbed ‘Captain America’ despite the inconvenient fact that Tim Ream and Tyler Adams have worn the armband for most of the past five years, Pulisic is a creative attacker who can set teammates up for shots or finish chances himself. A soft-spoken native of Hershey, Pennsylvania who presently stars for Italian powerhouse AC Milan, he most often works down the left channel, but is apt to roam in search of space and touches on the ball.

Also key is Weston McKennie, a product of FC Dallas’ youth academy who moved to German club Schalke 04 as a teenager and soon turned heads with his industry, quality and versatility in central midfield. He earned a big move to Juventus, one of Milan’s chief rivals in Serie A, in 2020 and remains there today, having repeatedly won over club decision-makers who time and again wrote him off as surplus to requirements, only to be proven wrong. Quirky, energetic, and endearing, ‘Wes’ is the spiritual heart of the USMNT.

MLS is well-represented on this squad, too, with eight call-ups and 13 players who are homegrown products or spent time in an MLS academy.

The entire goalkeeping corps of Matt Freese, Matt Turner and Chris Brady plays in the league, standouts for New York City FC, New England Revolution and Chicago Fire FC, respectively.

Meanwhile, Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC) and Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps FC) feature in midfield. USMNT captain Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), center back Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati) and wingback Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew) also carry the banner in style.

World Cup history

This is the USMNT’s 12th World Cup appearance, starting with the very first edition way back in 1930, where they finished third, still the nation’s best-ever finish.

The Yanks then suffered a four-decade qualifying drought from 1950-90. However, a dark-ages period finally ended by the effervescent overachievement of a young group who defied the odds to reach Italia ‘90, raising the curtain on an era of dizzying growth and maturation for the sport in the United States.

It helped that the US won the right to host the 1994 tournament, a joyous event which set attendance records and helped lay the foundation for MLS.

The Yanks have booked a place in every World Cup since then, save one – Russia 2018, thanks to a stunning series of results across multiple qualifiers and two coaching regimes.

That setback aside, over the past 35 years the USMNT have climbed from ‘just happy to be here’ to respectability, and now crave legitimate contender status, driven by the buildout of a professionalized player-development landscape and the rising reputations of US players across Europe’s most competitive leagues.

While the 2002 team’s Cinderella run to the quarterfinals in Japan/Korea remains their best performance of the modern era, they’ve advanced out of the group stage with increasing frequency, starting with 1994 and continuing in 2010 (where they topped a group that included England), 2014 and 2022.

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Milestones, history & achievements

The USMNT have won North America's top international honor, the Concacaf Gold Cup, seven times, and also won three of the first four editions of a much newer continental competition, the Concacaf Nations League.

They’ve also been invited to Copa América, South America’s prestigious championship, on several occasions, finishing fourth in 1995 and 2016. The Yanks qualified for the Confederations Cup, a now-defunct tournament featuring the top national teams from each continent that used to function as a warm-up event one year before the World Cup, four times and finished as runners-up to Brazil in 2009, arguably the program’s high-water mark on the global stage.

The USMNT record books are packed with MLS stars of the past. LA Galaxy icon Cobi Jones tops the all-time appearances list with 164 career ‘caps’ (a traditional term for national-team appearances which refers to the headwear they received back in the old days). DaMarcus Beasley, who repped Chicago Fire FC and Houston Dynamo FC on either side of a decade overseas in Europe and Mexico, is the only player in USMNT history to appear in four World Cups (2002, '06, '10 and '14).

Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan are tied for all-time top scorer with 57 goals apiece, though it’s worth noting Pulisic – still just 27 years of age – already ranks fifth on that list and could well surpass their mark someday, having bagged 33 goals in his 85 caps to date.