Los Angeles, Cali– In what was projected to be the game that would decide who would win Group D, it ended up being a glorified friendly between the United States and Türkiye. It is a friendly for the best possible reason for the USMNT, as they have already confirmed their top spot in Group D. No matter the result in LA, the USA will win Group D. It is the complete opposite for Türkiye, as the projected group favorite has made a shock exit after losing their first two matches. They have already been eliminated from the World Cup. For both teams, this game is meaningless, but for two completely different reasons. However, it doesn’t mean that this game isn’t interesting, and we should be able to see some names we normally wouldn’t in this game. Let’s take a look at the matchup.
When: Thursday, June 25th @ 8:00 p.m. MST
Where: SoFi Stadium
TV/Streaming: Telemundo, Fubo Sports, Tubi, FOX One, FOX 4K, FOX, Peacock ES, FOX Sports 4K, FOX Sports
One-Sided Beef Squashed
There were a lot of words said prior to this game, mainly from Australia. The Aussies had made it clear throughout the week that they wanted to win this game more than anything. The United States made it clear that they respected Australia and their game. In the end, the talk was shallow, and the United States came away with a 2-0 win.
The game played out as expected, with the USMNT dominating possession and Australia looking to hit on the counterattack. The stout defensive display from Australia against Türkiye was more about Türkiye playing poorly than about the Australian backline. Lucas Herrington did not feature in this game, and the players in front of him on the depth chart struggled mightily. Everyone on the Aussie backline had a yellow card, other than Cam Burgess, who backed up his talk by putting the ball in the back of his own net early.
It was another quick own goal that benefited the USMNT, and both proved to be some of the most important goals of the tournament for the United States. The own goal against Paraguay forced them to attack the game, rather than sit eleven men behind the ball for as long as possible. Australia also conceded early, and made it worse later through a goal from Alex Freeman right before halftime. Down 2-0, Australia stuck to their game plan. They did not break from their defensive style of play throughout the match. They did keep the US out better than Paraguay, but they did not come close to getting back into the game.
Australia didn’t really push the United States in this matchup, and the USA benefited from Paraguay beating Türkiye in another disastrous performance from Türkiye to guarantee the top spot in Group D. It was a perfect day for the USMNT, who were able to squash a beef they didn’t even know they were in.
Lineup Prediction:
Turner / McKenzie, M. Robinson, Trusty / Scally, Berhalter, Aaronson, Arfsten / Weah, Reyna / Pepi
The United States is already the group winners. There should be no reason that Mauricio Pochettino should play any starters in this matchup. No one on a yellow card should find themselves on the field. No one nursing an injury should get even a minute. Hopefully, this is the mindset Poch has going into this game. The only thing that can happen in this game will be negative for the USMNT.
On a side note, really unfortunate for Christian Roldan to get hurt during the perfect chance for him to get minutes in the World Cup. Gutted for him if he can’t make it on Thursday.
Türkiye Eliminated After Two Games
In what might be the shock of the tournament so far, Türkiye knows they will be eliminated from the World Cup with any result on Thursday. The magic number for Türkiye is 62, and it will haunt them for years. They had 62 shots in the two World Cup matches so far. They have scored zero goals. Türkiye had 3.53 expected goals in two games. They scored zero. They had 72% and 78% possession in the two games, and played up a man for an entire half against Paraguay. Zero goals.
While this means that Türkiye is out of the World Cup, it still shows that they are a dangerous side. They can dominate a game. If they can figure out how to turn that dominance into goals, they can be very dangerous. They probably should have won both games. Definitely should have beaten Paraguay. The group could easily be the USA and Türkiye at the top with six points, and the winner tops the group. Luckily for the USMNT, Türkiye flopped at the World Cup, and this game is meaningless in the best possible way.
All the shots and expected goals stem from Türkiye’s star power. It hasn’t worked out this World Cup, but Arda Güler and Kenan Yildiz are top talents. If they play against the United States, they will be the names to watch. It will be interesting to see what lineup Türkiye brings out, and how much they will care about this match. They will have no games to rest players for; it wouldn’t be shocking if they don’t treat this game lightly. The USMNT should.
Prediction: Türkiye finally gets their goal, and it comes with a win over a rotated USMNT lineup. Türkiye wins 3-1.
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Eamon Shaw 
Matt Pollard 