The United States is already a lock for the Round of 32.
But just because a group stage World Cup match vs Turkiye is ‘meaningless’ on Thursday, that doesn’t mean proud USA fans won’t shell out big bucks to watch Christian Pulisic and Co. in person.
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The cheapest price for a single ticket on a secondary market site just hours before kickoff was $1,231.
But that seat was near the top of Los Angeles Stadium, which has a 70,000-person capacity for the 2026 World Cup.
Mauricio Pochettino’s squad started 2-0 in Group D and is expected to play Bosnia and Herzegovina in a Round of 32 knockout contest on July 1 at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.
That venue normally hosts Brock Purdy’s 49ers and recently was the site of Super Bowl LX, which was won by Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks.
With the Round of 32 match already creating a win-or-go home scenario for the US Men’s National Team, there was technically nothing at stake for Thursday’s Group D finale vs Turkiye — except for American pride.
“When you defend your jersey, your flag, your culture, it’s always about pride,” Pochettino said.
“I have no doubt that the Turkish team is going to be competitive tomorrow. They have good players. Of course, they are eliminated, but I think it’s going to be a tough game. We’re not thinking that it’s going to be a game that’s going to be easy.”
USMNT opened World Cup play with a sharp 4-1 win over Paraguay, then blanked Australia 2-0.
The combined 6-1 score turned the USA into one of the hottest teams of the summer.
Pulisic is expected to return to action vs Turkiye, who is playing its final match of the World Cup.
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“I’ve been touching the ball every day, and I’ve been working a lot,” Pulisic said.
“Get a couple training sessions in, and I’ll feel ready.”
The get-in price for Curacao vs Ivory Coast on Thursday was $526, which is affordable for a World Cup ticket.
But France vs Norway cost $1,598 just to get into Boston Stadium, while Portugal vs Colombia on Saturday was a whopping $3,035 to walk through the gate.
USMNT’s Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Tyler Adams and Folarin Balogun all have lingering yellow cards from earlier matches.
A second yellow would result in a one-game suspension.
Pochettino said it would be an “unnecessary risk” to use those players vs Turkiye, which means that fans are willing to pay almost $1,500 to watch a USMNT squad missing four of its biggest names — and sit near the top of a huge NFL stadium.
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