USMNT Aim for Perfect Group Stage | Day 15 Preview | Morning Cupdate, Presented by The Home Depot

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1:16Yes, yes, yes. A massive shout out to our sponsor Visa, who's made this guide possible. Visa gives local business owners the tools and support to be ready for moments exactly like this one, welcoming you to enjoy the games this summer. Start planning your journey at meninblazers.com backslash cityguides. Lays, an official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026, is also the official sponsor of all bandwagon fans during this euphoric summer of footballing wonder. And this summer, they're inviting all of us to jump on because come kickoff, hope springs eternal. My cold, dark heart grows three sizes every FIFA World Cup.

1:55The ebullient Moroccans, the splime Spanish, you can't help but fall in love again and again. So ask grandma if perhaps you'll won 16th French, Brazilian or Japanese. Adopt a new anthem, borrow a new flag, embrace that bandwagon. Because when your team goes home, the party doesn't have to. Grab a bag of leis, gather some friends and cheer for whoever you damn well like.

2:42guide to day 15.

2:48Hello and welcome back to Morning Cup Date, built by the Home Depot. Celebrate match day with a winning assist from the Home Depot. Fast free delivery lets you focus on your team, not your to-do list. Subject to availability, the Home Depot wishes the USMNT good luck ahead of today's match. Go USA! We're all cheering you on! USA! USA! This lot cheering you on, especially loudly. We are two weeks into the World Cup but for some nations that might be as far as they can go. Let's look ahead to day 15 and we'll start with one team whose destiny is already sealed and that is the USMNT. They face Turkey tonight at 7pm local time here in LA but what a feeling it will be for US fans as there is no pressure riding on this match.

3:32Top spot in Group D is already locked in and actually Turkey can't finish anywhere but last. Pochettino has said that he's going to rotate his squad, particularly his four players that are one yellow card away from a suspension. So that's Tyler Adams, Flo Baligan, Ansi Robinson and Chris Richards. It also remains to be seen whether or not he'll risk Christian Pulisic as he recovers from a calf injury. Pochettino said we need to decide if he plays from the beginning or in the second half. Of course, all eyes are going to be on that first knockout match in San Francisco on July the 1st. Put that in your diaries, everybody.

4:05But the team has finally got the fans believing and here's how Pochettino has done it.

4:14Today's drill down brought to you by Makita is all about how the US's Argentine coach has got his team to peak at exactly the right time. In 2024, the USMNT were left licking their wounds after a Copa America disaster. They were knocked out by Panama on their home turf after just two games. In September, though, Mauricio Pochettino took the reins. Rejoice, America! What a day this is for all who love the sport of soccer. But Pochettino described the state of the team as worse than we really believed, and maybe that explains his slow start at the helm. They faltered in the CONCACAF Nations League and the Gold Cup, losing to Panama and Mexico, respectively, both times on home soil as well.

4:57This was Rog just over a year ago, and it's hard to believe how much the mood has changed. This past week has been an agony, rife of frustration, disappointment. In November 2025, Pochettino showed the team videos of South Korea and Morocco reaching World Cup semifinals and instilled a why not us mentality. And as this clip of Chris Richard proves, it seems to have worked. We believe 100 % in ourselves, so that's the big thing. Pochettino tweaked the tactics as well. Gone was Greg Berhalter's ponderous possession and in came a fluid, interchangeable midfield built on movement, quick combinations and giving his best players the freedom to roam.

5:36Getting ideas across has been a little bit tricky, as demonstrated by recent inconsistent results. It seems, though, that he's managed to get this team to click at exactly the correct time. Australia manager Tony Popovich said, We couldn't win a challenge, couldn't win a second ball, we were slow to every ball. That's Pochettino's system working exactly as designed. And it's got the fans going from full-on despair to this. I'm saying, why not us? It's our year. We're winning them all! On to the days are the matches then. And at the same time as the US game in San Francisco, it's Australia against Paraguay.

6:15The Australians just need a point to secure second place in the group. and that's a result that would also suit Paraguay as they'd almost certainly make it through as a third place qualifier if they reached the magic four points. At 1pm, it's the conclusion of Group E as Ecuador face Germany in New Jersey and Curacao take on Ivory Coast in Philadelphia. Germany are already group winners and Ivory Coast are best placed to claim second unless one of Ecuador or Curacao can claim an unlikely win. They know that their tournament will almost certainly end at the group stage. A draw is unlikely to be enough for either of them to go through as a third place qualifier.

6:53Then finally at 4pm Eastern is Group F, Netherlands and Japan. A top of this group on four points each with Sweden sitting behind on three. The Japanese fans though continue to capture their hearts up and down the continent. I want you to look at Shige's sign. You're from Tokyo. Are you out of money? I haven't money. You got any PTO? Oh my god, PTO. I haven't. You haven't missed any Japan games. Yes, of course. All Japan match. What about your memories? Bad? Bad? Memory is... Infinity! Thank you! Memory infinity! That's got to be on the buzzer, right? On the buzzer. Memory infinity! Japan are in Dallas taking on Sweden.

7:41Japan will be clear favourites, of course. But Graham Potter's Sweden will know that a draw will be enough to make the knockout stages. After making the World Cup without winning a qualifying game, the Swedes won't have any shame sneaking through as a third-place team. Shameless. That's fair to say. Also, Netherlands take on a Tunisia team who have lost both games and conceded nine goals in the process. The Dutch will surely be confident of filling their boots, especially with goal difference likely to be important. All right, next, let's go back through Wednesday's matches and we'll begin with Group A.

8:13as Mexico continued their 100 % record with an emphatic 3-0 win over Czechia. Mateo Chavez scored the opener, easily slotting it past the keeper. And even though they'd already won the group, there was definitely no lack of passion from either the players, the fans, the commentators, or even the YouTubers doing watch-alongs. Mateo! Mateo! Mateo! Let's do it! Goal! Goal! Goal! What an incredible tournament the co-hosts are having. They've won all three games without conceding a goal, which is quite frankly ridiculous, isn't it? Nobody is going to want to come up against them, especially as their first two knockout matches will be back in the Mexican capital.

8:58History was made at both ends of the age spectrum as well. Gilberto Mora was the youngest starter in a World Cup match since 2002. Then off the bench, Guillermo Ochoa, the man who has represented Mexico in six World Cups and appeared 154 times, made what is very likely to be the final appearance of his career. Incredible. For more on Eltrie's big win, you've got to tune in to our friends on the Vamos Network. Elsewhere in the group, it was South Africa against South Korea. Bufana Bufana were absolutely awful in that opener against Mexico. You'd have been forgiven for assuming they were definitely going to be the ones to go home first.

9:37But underestimate this team at your peril.

9:50That was the moment inside the Montreux Stadium when Tepello Maseco scored South Africa's winning goal to send them through to the last 32, into the knockouts for the first time in their history and they didn't even need to use the third place route to do it. Brilliant. A monumental achievement for a nation that has very few players that play football outside of the country. Then in Group B, there was an exciting pair of matches. Firstly, in Vancouver, as Canada took on Switzerland, the Canadians only needed a draw to top the group. But second half goals from Ruben Vargas and Joanne Manzambi put the Swiss two up.

10:24Promise David did pull on back for Canada, who pushed and pushed for an equaliser, but they just couldn't make it happen. They still go through as group runners-up, but they won't be playing their knockout matches in Canada. They're going to have to face South Africa in LA on Sunday. That's the first confirmed match-up of the last 32. In the other match in Seattle, it was Bosnia and Herzegovina against Qatar, and their teenage superstar set them on the way to victory.

10:5718-year-old Kareem Alebegovic scored an incredible goal to open the scoring for Bosnia. They went on to win 3-1 in the end. They're now 99 % certain to be playing the USA in the last 32 in San Francisco. A tricky tie for both, I think it's fair to say. Then in Group C, it was Scotland as they took on Brazil in Miami. The Tartan army were hoping to steal a draw against Carlo Ancelotti's side, but those hopes lasted all of seven minutes when a Scott McKenna mistake gifted Vinicius Jr. a golden chance to open the scoring. Brazil then scored two more against the lacklustre Scots, and their World Cup hopes now hang by a single thread.

11:35Technically, they have a 38 % chance of qualification, but their coach Steve Clarke, well, he's not feeling too optimistic. Personally, at this moment in time, it feels like we're going home. I think minus three is too much. In the other Group C match, it was an absolute thriller in Atlanta between Morocco and Haiti. The Haitians took the lead twice in this match, including an absolute bullet from Wilson Isidore of Sunderland. But whilst Morocco looked a bit shaky defensively, they looked so incredibly dangerous going forward and they turned it around to win 4-2 in the end. Haiti finished bottom of the group, but from the sound of their fans after the game, you wouldn't have realised.

12:11Haiti! Haiti! Haiti! Haiti! Haiti! Oh, it's just such an incredible story, isn't it? Having Haiti here in North America. Brazil advance as Group C winners with Morocco taking that second spot. A word from our friends at 14.40. The 2022 World Cup final drew 1.5 billion viewers. It's 11 times this year's Super Bowl. To understand how football became the world's game and what drove it, listen to 14.40 Explores with Financial Times journalist Simon Kuiper. It will give you the inside scoop into the depths of the tournament. Listen to 1440 Explores wherever you get your podcasts. And as the world arrives in the United States for the biggest spectacle in sports, we're going coast to coast, host city to host city to meet the world with the Men in Blazers Match Day Live Tour.

13:02These are free college game day style live events taking place just before kickoff at some of the biggest games of the summer where we'll be taking the stage with celebrity guests in front of thousands of fans. It's going to be amazing. Come and be with us in person or from afar on YouTube. And let's celebrate this some other way. It's meant to be celebrated. Just head to the events tab on meninblazers.com for all the details. To the football. To more together. Courage. Leaders aren't born. They're made. And they're made like everything else. Through hard work. Well, a Chevy Silverado was made for hard work and designed to handle the big jobs.

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14:03We've got a big one tonight on our nightly recap show, the Knight Cup, right after the final group stage match. For the U.S., Roger Rory will be joined live by Barstool Sports, Big Cat and PFT to talk through the game at the group stage and what the knockout round will look like for America. You can catch it all here on the Men in Blazers YouTube. Make sure you do. It is now time for our prediction challenge against the Knight Cup. Yesterday, I took on Rory and he took the win, everybody. He took the win. He went for a more pragmatic approach to Scotland's game, predicting, I think he predicted a 3-1 win for Brazil or a 3-0 win, one of the two.

14:39I optimistically said that it would be a nil-nil draw, but I was hoping Scotland would get a point, guys. I'm sorry. So it means that it's another point for the nightclub. They lead 6-4. I've only got myself to blame, really. So I'm just going to have to redeem myself. Today, I took on Rory once again. Let's start with Turkey against the USA. USA already through. Turkey are already out. What are you saying this is going to be?

15:04Roger Bennett:That makes Turkey dangerous, I think, because their pride will have been stolen. And it is genuinely astonishing that they're out of the World Cup already. A squad that talented with that much expectation, it goes to show that you should never, ever predict Turkey or Serbia to be your dark horses for the World Cup because they will let you down. But I think Turkey will be keen to make up for what has been a little bit of a humiliation. And I think that Maricu Pocetino will probably rest players. But that said, the US, in a good moment, everyone's confident, really happy. They won't want to sacrifice momentum to all draw.

15:33To all draw. I'm going to go 2-1 to the USA.

15:36Roger Bennett:You think Turkey's confidence is really low? Yeah, I think they're done. I think they're done. Okay, next one, Japan against Sweden. Yeah, yeah. So this is a really good one. Japan have been brilliant so far. This group has kind of low-key been one of the best in the tournament, I think. The Dutch have looked great as well. Sweden were fine against the Dutch. I know they lost 5-1, so that sounds a bit stupid, but they had quite a lot of chances. They do look good going forward. I think they'll probably get through either way. I'm torn. I think Japan are really good. So I'm tempted to say there'll be a lot of goals either way.

16:05Roger Bennett:I'm certain of that. I think it might be a kind of unexpected classic. I'm going to say 4-3 Japan. Oh, really? We've not really had a game like that yet, have we? No, we haven't. Do you know what? Norway's Senegal was a little bit like the 3-2, but the second Senegal was really late. I think it's a proper helter-skelter, a slobber knocker, as an American would say. And yeah, I'm going to say 4-3 Japan. OK, I'm going to go 2-1 Japan. Boring. I just think Japan are too good. Maybe even 2-0 Japan. Can I change? I might go 2-0. Japan are really, really good. And I think whoever they get, I can't remember what the bracket is, but whoever they get, if they finish second in that group, will have a really tough game.

16:42OK. Thank you, Rory.

16:44Roger Bennett:Thank you, Betsy. On today's Finishing Touch, brought to you by Bear Paint, we decided to test the theory that Los Angeles is truly a one-world city. We challenged ourselves to watch as many matches as we could in 24 hours with fans from as many different nations as physically possible. Now, our challenge started two nights ago at a Colombian watch party at La Bodega Rooftop in Westlake. This was the roof of a parking garage, so it didn't really look like too much at first. But before we knew it, there were 3 ,000 Colombian fans all enjoying their narrow 1-0 win over DR Congo.

17:23On to yesterday, and we started with Canadian pancakes and waffles over in Melrose and a place called Attitude Cafe. What more could you want for your breakfast? Hotspot for Canadian fans living here in LA. Brilliant food and a very friendly crowd. I wouldn't expect anything less. Then we ventured to Culver City to watch the five-time champions Brazil. Pampers Grill gave us everything that we could possibly want and more. Everyone was in yellow. Caprianas were on tap. Incredible barbecue. And I tried my first plantain. It was amazing, guys. It was also very loud. This was the sound after Vinicius Junior's second goal.

18:10We then rounded it off with a trip to Liberty Park, right in the heart of Los Angeles' Korea town. This was possibly the highlight of the day. Thousands of Korea fans created a beautiful, welcoming family atmosphere with men, women, children of all ages enjoying the football. We even got caught under a giant South Korean flag.

18:37This was honestly such a beautiful place to watch football. There were dancers, performers, people leading the crowd with different chants. It's just a shame they lost 1-0, but we'll brush over that. We very much enjoyed our day travelling to all four corners of the globe. No passport needed. That is it for Morning Cup Date today, built by the Home Depot. The Home Depot is your winning assist to host the ultimate watch party with fast free delivery to get your backyard match day ready. Subject to availability for all of our friends in sunny LA today, it is the day. Roger and Rory will be at the beautiful Union Station ahead of USA's game against Turkey for our third Match Day Live event.

19:18And it is shaping up to be a very loud one. Some incredible guests will be taken to the stage, including LA Rams legend Tom Gurley and former US player Carl Beckerman as well. It all kicks off at 5.45. And, of course, it is free as well. And if you're not in L.A., you can tune in from afar with our live stream. The link will be in the notes below. We are going to be back tomorrow. But enjoy those six wonderful games of football.

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