Australia reach round of 32 after draw; Turkey edge USA

KATHMANDU: Australia secured qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 after a hard-fought 0–0 draw against Paraguay in their final Group D match.

The match, played at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in Santa Clara, California, was highly competitive from the start, with both teams showing intense physicality and high tempo.

Australia gradually gained control of possession and created more attacking pressure, particularly through the right flank where Jordan Bos, Aiden O’Neill, and Christian Volpato combined effectively to trouble Paraguay’s defence.

Australia came close early, with Jackson Irvine forcing a strong save from goalkeeper Orlando Gill in the third minute.

Throughout the first half, despite good link-up play between Bos, Volpato, and O’Neill, the Socceroos were unable to create a clear scoring opportunity for forward Nestory Irankunda.

Paraguay improved slightly after the break following tactical changes by head coach Gustavo Alfaro, but the momentum largely remained with Australia.

The clearest chance of the match came late, when Jordan Bos beat two defenders on the right flank and fired a shot that narrowly missed the far post.

With the draw, Australia finished second in Group D and will face the Group G runner-up in the Round of 32 on July 3 in Dallas. Paraguay remain in contention for a possible best third-place qualification, depending on other group results.

This was only the second goalless draw in Australia’s last 23 World Cup matches.

USA 2–3 Turkey: Late Drama Seals Turkish Victory

Turkey ended their Group D campaign with a dramatic 3–2 victory over group leaders USA, secured by a stoppage-time winner at the 8th minute of added time.

The match, played at the Los Angeles Stadium, saw early rotation from USA head coach Mauricio Pochettino, who made nine changes after his side had already secured qualification to the Round of 32.

USA took the lead in the 3rd minute when Auston Trusty finished from a Sebastian Berhalter corner. However, Turkey responded quickly, with Arda Güler combining with Barış Yılmaz before finishing clinically in the 10th minute, becoming one of Turkey’s youngest-ever World Cup scorers.

Turkey then took the lead in the 31st minute through Barış Yılmaz, who capitalized on a well-delivered assist from Eren Elmalı.

USA equalised in the 49th minute when Berhalter struck a powerful shot from outside the box to level the score at 2–2.

Despite late substitutions including Christian Pulisic, it was Turkey who found the decisive moment. In the 98th minute, Kağan Ayhan scored the winning goal to complete a memorable victory for the already-eliminated side.

Group D Final Standings

• USA – 6 points (Qualified as group winners)
• Australia – 4 points (Qualified as runners-up)
• Paraguay – 4 points (Third, pending qualification chances)
• Turkey – 3 points (Eliminated)

USA also set a new World Cup scoring record, netting 8 goals in the group stage—matching and surpassing their previous best totals from 1930 and 2002.