Doug McIntyre
Soccer Journalist
The United States men’s national team’s pre-World Cup schedule is coming into ever-sharper focus.
The U.S. Soccer Federation on Monday announced that coach Mauricio Pochettino’s squad will face Australia and Ecuador in a pair of October exhibition games. Both matches will be held stateside; the Americans will take on the Ecuadorians Oct. 10 at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas. Four days later, they’ll host the Socceroos in the Denver, Colorado suburb of Commerce City.
Combined with the previously announced September friendlies against South Korea and Japan, the U.S. will meet four of FIFA’s Top-25-ranked national teams this fall. All four have also already qualified for the 2026 World Cup, which is being co-hosted by the U.S. and neighbors Canada and Mexico.
The U.S. still has two more dual-match FIFA fixture windows to fill, in November and next March, before Pochettino names his final 26-player World Cup roster. The Americans are also expected to play a pair of pre-World Cup tuneups before they kick off the main event in Los Angeles on June 12.
No-25 Ecuador, one of three South American nations who have already punched their ticket to the next World Cup, joining Brazil and defending champion Argentina, is led by midfielder Moises Caicedo. Caicedo, who plays for English Premier League club Chelsea, helped the Blues win the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday. The U.S. and Ecuador have met on 15 previous occasions, with each side posting a record of 5W-5L-5T. The two last met in 2016, when the U.S. eliminated La Tricolor in the quarterfinals of the Copa América Centenario.
The U.S. hasn’t faced the 24th-ranked Aussies since way back in 2010, a 3-1 win in South Africa in both countries’ final tune-up before that year’s World Cup in South Africa.
The trip to Austin marks the sixth time the Americans have visited the Texas capital since 2021. They are a perfect 6-0 there, including last month’s 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia in the Concacaf Gold Cup group stage.
The U.S. is also perfect at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, going 3-0 at the home of MLS franchise Colorado Rapids. Seats for the Australia match start at just $35. The get-in price for the Ecuador game is $45, with tickets for both contests on sale to the general public starting on July 18.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.
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