Who would USA, other nations play if the 2026 World Cup knockout rounds started today?

World Cup teams always have one day on today and another on the future, and United States men’s national team fans are feeling this keenly after their men sealed their group with a match still to play Thursday against Turkiye.

Who could they play in the next round? The match-ups change by the result but become a bit more stable every day as almost every group has played two matches in the group stage.

MORE — Daily schedule for 2026 World Cup

Below we will update the current knockout round match-ups in a semi-live bracket situation. Since this involves doing the math on the 495 different permutations for the third-place teams, please note the “last update” times in the heading because it takes some work.

As it stands, the U.S. have a pretty nice path ahead of them if they continue to play as well as they did in their first two games.

Read on….

2026 World Cup knockout rounds match-ups if they started now (last update: 11am ET Sunday, June 21)

Teams in bold italics are guaranteed to finish in this fixture.

Round of 32 match projections

South Korea vs Switzerland — Sunday, June 28: Match 73 – Runner up Group A vs Runner up Group B – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET

Brazil vs Japan — Monday, June 29: Match 76 – Winner Group C vs Runner up Group F – NRG Stadium, Houston – 1pm ET

Germany vs Scotland — Monday, June 29: Match 74 – Winner Group E vs 3rd Group A/B/C/D/F – Gillette Stadium, Boston – 4:30pm ET

Netherlands vs Morocco — Monday, June 29: Match 75 – Winner Group F vs Runner up Group C – Estadio BBVA, Monterrey – 9pm ET

Ivory Coast vs France — Tuesday, June 30: Match 78 – Runner up Group E vs Runner up Group I – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 1pm ET

Norway vs Sweden — Tuesday, June 30: Match 77 – Winner Group I vs 3rd Group C/D/F/G/H – MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey – 5pm ET

Mexico vs Spain — Tuesday, June 30: Match 79 – Winner Group A vs 3rd Group C/E/F/H/I – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City – 9pm ET

England vs Portugal — Wednesday, July 1: Match 80 – Winner Group L vs 3rd Group E/H/I/J/K – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta – 12pm ET

New Zealand vs Czechia — Wednesday, July 1: Match 82 – Winner Group G vs 3rd Group A/E/H/I/J – Lumen Field, Seattle – 4pm ET

United States vs Ecuador — Wednesday, July 1: Match 81 – Winner Group D vs 3rd Group B/E/F/I/J – Levi’s Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area – 8pm ET

Uruguay vs Austria — Thursday, July 2: Match 84 – Winner Group H vs Runner up Group J – SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles – 3pm ET

DR Congo vs Ghana — Thursday, July 2: Match 83 – Runner up Group K vs Runner up Group L – BMO Field, Toronto – 7pm ET

Canada vs Belgium — Thursday, July 2: Match 85 – Winner Group B vs 3rd Group E/F/G/I/J – BC Place, Vancouver – 11pm ET

Australia vs Iran — Friday, July 3: Match 88 – Runner up Group D vs Runner up Group G – AT&T Stadium, Dallas – 2pm ET

Argentinavs Saudi Arabia — Friday, July 3: Match 86 – Winner Group J vs Runner up Group H – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami – 6pm ET

Colombia vs Paraguay — Friday, July 3: Match 87 – Winner Group K vs 3rd Group D/E/I/J/L – Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City – 9:30pm ET

Who are the USMNT’s current match-ups for knockout round opponents? (last update: 11am ET Sunday, June 21)

At the moment, we’re in permutation No. 283 and the Americans would play the third-place team from Group E in Match 81 for their Round of 32 fixture. That is… Ecuador.

The winner of Match 81 plays the winner of Match 82 in the Round of 16. That game, Match 94, would currently see the Americans versus New Zealand or Czechia.

The winner of Match 94 meets the winner of Match 93 in the quarterfinals for Match 98. The four teams who would currently contest that fixture are DR Congo, Ghana, Austria, or Uruguay.

We’re not going further than for now, sickos.