Türkiye and the United States, two teams who had vastly different FIFA World Cup 2026 campaigns are set to meet each other in their final group game at the Los Angeles Stadium on Thursday.
The USMNT have been flying, winning both their games against Paraguay and Australia which led to them topping the group and qualify for the round of 32 with a game to spare. Their opponents Türkiye are out of the World Cup after losing both their games.
It's a match with no big significance but there's one important question to answer.
Here's everything you need to know about the match.
How to watch:
The match will be available on ITV in the UK, Fox Sports in the U.S., Zee5 in India and SBS in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Date, kick-off time:
U.S. ET: 10 p.m. Thursday, June 25
UK BST: 3 a.m. Friday, June 26
India IST: 7:30 a.m. Friday, June 26
Australia AEST: 12 p.m. Friday, June 26
Venue: Los Angeles Stadium
Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal
Team News
Türkiye - Predicted XI
Ugurcan Çakir; Ferdi Kadioglu, Abdülkerim Bardakci, Merih Demiral, Zeki Çelik; Hakan Çalhanoglu, Ismail Yüksek; Baris Alper Yilmaz, Orkun Kökcü, Arda Güler; Kerem Aktürkoglu
USA - Predicted XI:
Matt Freese; Tim Ream, Mark McKenzie, Alex Freeman; Max Arfsten, Sebastian Berhalter, Cristian Roldan, Álex Zendejas, Joe Scally; Christian Pulisic, Ricardo Pepi.
Talking Points
Will USMNT rest key players?
Credit should go to Pochettino and USMNT for their top-notch performances that resulted in them winning the group even before they played the final group match. They scored goals while also being robust in their defence, keeping the clean sheet against Australia. The question now for Pochettino is whether he would make wholesale changes to his team against Türkiye or stick to his core to maintain the winning momentum.
Pochettino will know the importance of giving game time to his key players, who have been performing well. To ensure they maintain theirs and the team's rhythm and also the psychological benefits of playing a knockout game after three straight wins. But he has to make a choice, because some of the key players like Tyler Adams, Folarin Balogun, Chris Richards and Antonee Robinson are on yellow cards. If one of them is carded again, they will miss out on the round of 32 fixture. As per the regulations, yellow cards are wiped after the group stage. All these players have been extremely vital to USMNT's show so far.
There's also the matter of Christian Pulisic, who missed out the match against Australia due to a calf injury. Pulisic was outstanding in their opening match against Paraguay, setting up two goals. The injury is not serious, and he is expected to be fit for Türkiye. It's likely that Pochettino would want his star winger to get some minutes in before the all-important knockout match. Whether to start Pulisic or play him from the bench will be another key question for Pochettino.
Meanwhile for Türkiye, it has been a dreadful campaign. A lot was expected out of a talented squad, but lack of goals clearly let them down. Before they go back home, Türkiye will hope to score a few and get the win.