Who could USA play in World Cup knockouts and when would it be?

The United States are flying at the World Cup after starting their tournament with back-to-back victories.

The co-hosts added to their opening thumping of Paraguay with a dominant performance against Australia in Seattle.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side are top of Group D and are through to the knockout stages with a game to spare.

Their place in the last-32 as group winners would be secured if Turkey fail to beat Paraguay in the later game this evening.

The USA play Turkey next in their final Group D fixture – on Thursday 25 June in Los Angeles.

So if Turkey win later, their meeting with the USA in LA will determine who tops the group.

USA’s route at World Cup as group winners

If the USA win Group D, they would play one of the third-placed teams who advance to the last-32. Their opponent would either come from Group B, Group E, Group F, Group I or Group J. As it stands, that’s set to be Bosnia-Herzegovina – but that is likely to change by the end of the group stages.

As Group D winners, the USA would head to Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara for their last-32 match on Wednesday 1 July. That’s the home of the San Francisco 49ers, known as the Bay Area Stadium for the purposes of the World Cup.

Should the USA progress to the last-16, they would then play either the winner of Group G or another of the third-placed teams who progress to the knockout stages. Group G contains Belgium, Iran, New Zealand and Egypt. If the USA play in that match, they would return to Lumen Field, Seattle on Tuesday 6 July.

USA’s route at World Cup as group runners-up

If Turkey beat USA to Group D, which they can do by winning their remaining two fixtures, the USA would play the runner-up of Group G in the last-32. Group G contains Belgium, Iran, New Zealand and Egypt. As runners-up, the USA’s last-32 match would take place at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Friday 3 July.

Should the USA progress to the last-16 as runners-up, they would then face either the winner of Group J or the runner-up of Group H. Group J contains Argentina, Austria, Jordan and Algeria; Group H contains Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde. It would be played in at the Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta on Wednesday 7 July.