Turkey vs United States Preview

Friday morning’s Group D finale at SoFi Stadium sees Turkey and the United States meet with contrasting agendas. The USA have already qualified and top the group on six points, while Turkey are bottom with nothing from two games and mathematically eliminated. For the Americans this is a chance to tune up ahead of the knockout rounds; for Turkey it is a final opportunity to salvage some pride from a tournament that has gone badly wrong.

Turkey head into this fixture having lost both their opening group games. Their most recent outing was a 1–0 home defeat to Paraguay on 20th June — a result that ended any lingering qualification hopes. Prior to that, they lost 2–0 away to Australia on 14th June in a flat performance. Earlier in this run, however, there were positive signs — a 2–1 win away in Venezuela on 6th June, a 4–0 home thrashing of North Macedonia on 1st June, and a 1–0 win away in Kosovo on 31st March in qualifying. Three wins in those earlier outings show the quality is there, but Turkey have been unable to reproduce it on the biggest stage.

The USA have been the standout side in Group D. Their most recent outing was a composed 2–0 home win over Australia on 19th June, a professional display that confirmed their place in the last sixteen. Prior to that, they hammered Paraguay 4–1 at home on 13th June in a commanding group stage performance. Earlier in this run, a 2–1 home defeat to Germany in a pre-tournament friendly on 6th June provided a useful test, before a 3–2 home win over Senegal on 31st May and a 2–0 home defeat to Portugal on 1st April. Two wins from two in the group, six goals scored and only one conceded — the USA arrive here in confident form and with the freedom to rotate and experiment.

In Group D, the USA sit top on six points with a goal difference of +5, already through. Australia are second on three points with a goal difference of zero, Paraguay third on three points with a goal difference of -2. Turkey are bottom with no points and a goal difference of -3. The simultaneous fixture between Paraguay and Australia will determine who joins the USA in the knockout rounds — Turkey cannot affect that outcome.

The head-to-head record between these sides is remarkably even across five meetings. USA have won two, Turkey have won two, and one has ended level. Most recently, Turkey won 2–1 away in the USA in a friendly in June 2025 — a result that shows this is no foregone conclusion even with the context of the group stage. In the previous encounter, the USA won 2–1 at home against Turkey in June 2014.

In the UK, the match is live on ITV 1 and available to stream via ITVX, with radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live. In Turkey, the game is broadcast on TRT 1, Digiturk Play, and tabii. US audiences can follow on FOX Network, fuboTV, Telemundo, and Telemundo Deportes En Vivo.

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Lineups & Injuries

Turkey (4-2-3-1) Çakir, Müldür, Demiral, Bardakci, Çalhanoglu, Akgün, Güler, Yildiz, Aktürkoglu, Kadioglu, Yüksek

USA (3-5-2) Freese, Ream, Tillman, Robinson, Richards, Adams, McKennie, Freeman, Dest, Balogun, Pepi

Turkey: No missing players.

USA: Cristian Roldan (Doubtful)

Neither side is significantly weakened, with Turkey reporting a clean bill of health. Roldan’s potential absence is a minor concern for the USA in midfield depth, but with qualification already secured the Americans have the luxury of managing their squad ahead of the knockout stage.

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Group D Table

Pos.	Team	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	P
1	USA	2	2	0	0	6	1	+5	6
2	Australia	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	3
3	Paraguay	2	1	0	1	2	4	-2	3
4	Turkey	2	0	0	2	0	3	-3	0

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Turkey Form

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
❌	Turkey	0–1	Paraguay	World Cup	20-06-26
❌	Australia	2–0	Turkey	World Cup	14-06-26
✅	Venezuela	1–2	Turkey	Friendly	06-06-26
✅	Turkey	4–0	North Macedonia	Friendly	01-06-26
✅	Kosovo	0–1	Turkey	World Cup	31-03-26

USA Form

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
✅	USA	2–0	Australia	World Cup	19-06-26
✅	USA	4–1	Paraguay	World Cup	13-06-26
❌	USA	1–2	Germany	Friendly	06-06-26
✅	USA	3–2	Senegal	Friendly	31-05-26
❌	USA	0–2	Portugal	Friendly	01-04-26

Head-to-Head

Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
USA	1–2	Turkey	Friendly	07-06-25
USA	2–1	Turkey	Friendly	01-06-14
USA	2–1	Turkey	Friendly	29-05-10
Turkey	2–1	USA	Friendly	19-06-03
Turkey	1–1	USA	Friendly	04-09-91

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TV Listings / Streaming

Country	Channel
Great Britain	ITV 1 UK, ITVX, STV Scotland, BBC Radio 5 Live
Ireland Republic	ITV 1 UK, RTE 2, ITVX, RTE Player, BBC Radio 5 Live
USA	FOX Network, fuboTV, Telemundo, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, FOX One
Turkey	TRT 1, Digiturk Play, tabii
Germany	ORF eins, SRF zwei, MagentaTV
France	beIN Sports 1, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, myCANAL
Australia	SBS On Demand, SBS Viceland
Canada	TSN+, TSN1, RDS
Spain	DAZN Spain, DAZN Mundial, Movistar+
Netherlands	NPO 1, NPO Start, Ziggo Go