The World Cup is underway in North America for the first time since 1994, and the United States has already taken care of business in group play.
The group stage features teams split into Groups A through L, with the top two teams in each group advancing, along with the top eight third-place teams. That sets up a 32-team knockout stage, which will begin this coming Sunday.
The United States is off to a hot start on home soil, picking up a 4-1 win over Paraguay and a 2-0 win over Australia. With those two wins, the U.S. has already clinched the top spot in their group and punched their ticket to the knockout stage.
Monmouth College Sports Information Director Nathan Baliva, a huge soccer fan when he’s not busy working for the Scots, says Team USA has been a lot of fun to watch this year.
“The U.S. has been awesome. They’ve been a lot of fun to watch. Even sometimes in the past when they’ve won, it’s like, man, did we really win that game? It kind of went ugly, and they’re not doing that this year. They’re playing great. It’s fun to watch. They’re playing with so much confidence. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a U.S. team play with this much confidence. They’ve been fun to watch. It’s been a lot of great soccer.”
The United States will wrap up group play Thursday night at 9 against Türkiye. That match will not impact their spot in the knockout stage, as the U.S. has already advanced and won the group.
Team USA will begin knockout stage play July 1st at 7 p.m., and will face one of the top third-place finishers.
