<\/p>\n
When the FIFA World Cup groups were drawn in December last year, all four teams in Group D seemed satisfied with their opponents.<\/p>\n
Co-hosts the United States were practically cheering after being grouped with Australia, Paraguay and Turkiye; on CBS News, television analyst Jamie Watson called it \u201ca dream draw\u201d because America were highest-ranked nation in the group at 17th.<\/p>\n
Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now ><\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n \u201cIf you believe in the soccer gods, you should be thanking them,\u201d former American international Alexi Lalas said on Fox Sports.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not just a good group, this is a great group, and this is a group that you should expect this United States team, under Mauricio Pochettino, to win and go through.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Australian coach Tony Popovic was satisfied with the Socceroos\u2019 draw, acknowledging that his opponents would feel the same way. Anyone could beat anyone.<\/p>\n \u201cWe feel like everyone else in the group, it is a group we can get out of,\u201d Popovic said in December.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure every nation looks at the teams and says we\u2019re a chance and we are no different.\u201d<\/p>\n Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro also considered it \u201ca very evenly-matched group\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe differences between the teams will make it a very close competition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole group will be at a very high level of parity. That raises expectations for all four teams to advance in the competition, but any mistake can knock you out.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE<\/b><\/p>\n WHERE 2006 ROOS ARE NOW: Icon turned cafe owner and the next Ange<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n TALKING POINTS: Aussie X-factor sparks huge World Cup headache<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n FULL SCHEDULE: 2026 World Cup schedule with Aussie times and dates<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Socceroos World Cup prep heating up! | 00:47<\/p>\n The Socceroos will feel confident they can progress to the round of 32; courtesy of the tournament\u2019s new structure, a victory during the group stage almost guarantees qualification for the knockouts. <\/p>\n ESPN predicted that Australia had a 64 per cent chance of advancing, and Popovic has warned their upcoming opponents not to underestimate the scrappy Socceroos.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone that underestimates us will get a rude shock when it comes to those group games,\u201d Popovic said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re always deemed as the underdog or the team that will be fighting for the bottom spot, and we have an opportunity through our actions and our performances and results to show that that can be different.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s what\u2019s exciting for us, and that\u2019s the challenge that awaits.\u201d<\/p>\n UNITED STATES<\/b><\/p>\n Former United States footballer Mike Grella made headlines in December last year when he called America\u2019s World Cup match against Australia a \u201clay-up\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cTake nothing away from the Socceroos, they\u2019ve always been competitive and good – but they stumbled a little during qualifying and were not so impressive,\u201d he said on CBS Sports.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an amazing first team to have for the US.\u201d<\/p>\n He doubled down on his comments in May<\/a>, declaring: \u201cIf we can\u2019t beat them, we shouldn\u2019t go to the World Cup.<\/p>\n \u201cIf USA can\u2019t beat Australia in a football match, stay home.\u201d<\/p>\n American football great Landon Donovan, who represented the United States on 157 occasions, tipped the Socceroos to finish bottom of Group D, also accusing Popovic of \u201csmugness\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks for coming, Aussies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd your smug coach, you can get back on the Qantas airplane and head back home pal.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just had this smugness about him. I can\u2019t wait, I wish I was on the field, I want to play these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n Donovan added: \u201cThey\u2019re a solid team, they\u2019re hard to play against, this is not going to be some blowout, but it\u2019s a team I think we should beat.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking on his State of the Union<\/i> podcast, Lalas suggested the Australian squad was too weak to go deep in the tournament, predicting the Socceroos would be relying heavily on goalkeeper Mat Ryan.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an average team by any measure, and certainly not a great team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a team that is going to look to frustrate most of the opponents… but they are going to struggle to score goals and maintain possession of the ball.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are going to have to adjust, and I think they will default into a very defensive type of team.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have a great legend in goals in Maty Ryan, a wonderful goalkeeper. I think he is going to have to stand on his head at different times.\u201d<\/p>\n USA a ‘lay-up’ to beat Socceroos?! | 01:53<\/p>\n The Athletic\u2019s<\/a><\/i> Henry Bushnell described Australia\u2019s recent performances as \u201cpassive\u201d and \u201cuninspiring\u201d, analysing Popovic\u2019s defence formations.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia love a low block under Popovic and while results have improved, the disjointed nature of ball progression through a 3-4-2-1 formation often made performances uninspiring,\u201d Bushnell penned.<\/p>\n \u201cSince qualification was secured, Popovic has opted for a 5-4-1 that has looked even more passive, but there has been better fluidity on the counter, too, showing clear development in play and an awareness of what they could face come the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n Television analyst Roger Bennett provided the harshest criticism of Australia\u2019s chance of knockout qualification, suggesting that Turkey was the only nation in Group D that posed a threat to the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we were drawn in Group D, with Paraguay, Australia, and Turkey – who are actually a bloody football team – we cheered, we laughed,\u201d he said on ESPN\u2019s First Take<\/i>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe thought, \u2018Oh my lord, this is weak group, we can get out of this and dominate.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIf we do not get out of that group, it is a national tragedy, and there should be an inquiry at government level.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about the reaction coming out of the United States, Socceroos icon John Aloisi also cautioned against underestimating the Australians.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter listening to the way they\u2019re talking, they\u2019re putting fuel on the fire and that\u2019s dangerous with us because we love that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe love to be the underdogs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe love people underestimating us. So I know that our team and the whole nation will be behind us, especially against the US.\u201d<\/p>\n Elsewhere, USA coach Mauricio Pochettino called the Australian team \u201ccompetitive\u201d, acknowledging the Socceroos did \u201creally, really well\u201d during the qualifying process.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia is going to be difficult,\u201d he told Fox Sports.<\/p>\n TURKIYE<\/b><\/p>\n Turkiye was the last team to qualify for the group, but they\u2019re arguably the strongest nation on paper, with their squad headlined by Real Madrid\u2019s Arda Guler and Juventus\u2019 Kenan Yildiz.<\/p>\n Coach Vincenzo Montella praised the Socceroos ahead of the tournament, acknowledging Australia\u2019s World Cup experience and disciplined style of play.<\/p>\n The Italian manager also revealed that Turkiye chose North Macedonia as one of the team\u2019s warm-up opponents because \u201cthey play similarly to Australia\u201d,<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia is in their seventh World Cup, they\u2019re used to it,\u201d Montella said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re a very compact and disciplined team.\u201d<\/p>\n Ersan Gulum is more than qualified to discuss the Socceroos\u2019 chances against Turkiye, having played for Australia at Under-23 level before switching allegiances to the land of his heritage. <\/p>\n Born and raised in Melbourne, Gulum played seven games for Turkiye, while he is currently president of NPL Victoria\u2019s Hume City FC, the biggest Turkish club in Australia.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia is going to be a well-drilled, organised team. That\u2019s credit to Tony Popovic. There\u2019s something about them, definitely,\u201d he recently told the Sydney Morning Herald<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n \u201cPopa\u2019s done an amazing job. He\u2019s got them playing disciplined football. It\u2019s not going to be easy to break them down \u2013 every team that plays Australia is going to (find it) tough.\u201d<\/p>\n Socceroos ready for World Cup heat | 00:48<\/p>\n Gulum declared that Turkey won\u2019t be looking forward to playing the Socceroos, who he predicted would grind down their opponent before striking at the right moment, seeing the merit in Popovic\u2019s back-five formation.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Australia plays defensive, they tire them down mentally, physically, they get the opposition frustrated,\u201d Gulum said.<\/p>\n \u201cThen they look to leave more holes in their backline because they\u2019re trying to score, right? And then you put on these key players that are fresh, young and explosive.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s embedding that into the team, and it\u2019s working.\u201d<\/p>\n PARAGUAY<\/b><\/p>\n Paraguay, having qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 16 years, are no pushovers, progressing to the quarter-finals during the 2010 edition of the tournament.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be something beautiful in that moment, not just for me, but also for my family and for all the Paraguayan fans, and for anyone who\u2019s been with us through all the tough moments,\u201d Paraguay midfielder Miguel Almir\u00f3n said of the nation\u2019s long-awaited World Cup return.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are going to be a lot of emotions at that moment. We take it on with responsibility, because we know so many people are depending on us.\u201d<\/p>\n In December last year, Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro likened Australia\u2019s playing style to that of Asian powerhouses Japan and Korea.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I want to find a point of comparison, even though no two teams are ever exactly alike, I get the feeling that our past experience of playing against Japan and Korea gives us a strong indication of what Australia might be like,\u201d Alfaro said.<\/p>\n Alfaro was also confident Paraguay can go deep into the knockouts courtesy of the team\u2019s \u201cDNA, intensity and clean sheets\u201d.<\/p>\n Socceroos draw with Switzerland | 01:56<\/p>\n Australia has never lost to Paraguay across five international matches, their most recent encounter being a friendly in 2010.<\/p>\n