The USMNT enjoyed a fantastic start to their World Cup campaign on home soil, smashing Paraguay 4-1 and blowing expectations out of the water with their first game.
Most bookmakers had the US in a toss-up to win their group alongside Turkey, but with the USMNT’s dispatching of Paraguay, and Turkey losing their first game to Australia, the US are favorites to win their Group and progress to the next round. If you want to check out odds or bet on the World Cup, you can find a popular sportsbook that works for you on Vegas Insider.
It looks as though the USMNT are almost guaranteed to progress through the tournament, either winning the group or coming 2nd. Both will bring with it different sides of the knockout stage draw, a March Madness-style bracket that will take 32 teams and reduce it all the way down to 1 winner. Here’s a look at the potential paths to the World Cup final for USMNT.
USMNT’s path through the knockout stage if they win Group D
The US Men’s National Team winning Group D would be an incredible achievement, and it would have the added benefit of giving the US a much easier tie in the round of 32, the first round of the knockout stages.
Winning Group D would give the USMNT the honor of playing one of the 3rd placed teams from Group B/E/F/I/J, a wide selection of teams that could be Canada, Tunisia, Norway, Bosnia & Herzegovina.
It’s impossible at this stage to pinpoint exactly who, but it will be a team who finished third and likely only won one game so far. It should be a relatively comfortable game for the USMNT if their performance against Paraguay is anything to go by.
The Round of 16 game will pit the USMNT against one of the winners of the round of 32, and with the current layout of the teams, their most realistic opponent is Belgium. Belgium are famous for their Golden Generation, where, despite being a small nation, they had players dominating world football. Most of that generation has now retired from international football, but some remain like Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, and they’re no pushover.
If the USMNT wins against Belgium, that’ll set up the USMNT’s first World Cup quarter-final in a quarter of a century. It’s likely that a powerhouse awaits them here, either a well-established team or a side in incredible form. Currently it’s most likely to be Spain, who entered the tournament as favourites but drew their first game to Cape Verde.
If the USA makes it this far, it’ll be the best World Cup since its founding in 1930. If USMNT are still here at this stage, they’ll likely be taking on one of the other heavy hitters, including Brazil, France, or Germany. No matter who, they’ll be elite and tough to beat.
