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2026 World Cup draw: USMNT to face Paraguay, Australia

The United States will face Paraguay, Australia and the winner of a UEFA playoff featuring Türkiye, Romania, Slovakia and Kosovo after a relatively favorable group-stage draw for the co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup.

That was the result Friday after soccer' biggest competition took a major step closer to reality with a star-studded draw at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The USMNT's opening game of Group D will be against Paraguay on June 12 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Mexico will kick off the tournament a day earlier in Mexico City against South Africa -- a repeat of the opening game when South Africa hosted the World Cup in 2010.