The United States' World Cup preparations are about to become real. On Tuesday, Mauricio Pochettino's 26-man squad was announced at an event in New York, commencing the summer of soccer stateside. Ahead of their opening match against Paraguay in California in a fortnight, the U.S. have two warm-up friendlies, facing the AFCON champions here in North Carolina, before traveling to Chicago where they'll take on four-times world champions Germany next Saturday.
First and foremost, as already alluded to, Senegal will be no push-overs. They Lions of Téranga have appeared in three of the last four Cup of Nations finals, beating Morocco in Rabāṭ earlier this year, albeit whether or not they get to keep that trophy is currently being disputed at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Nevertheless, what isn't up for debate is that Pape Thiaw's team will not be easy opposition for anyone this summer, friendly or indeed competitive fixture.
United States vs Senegal key match information
- When is kick off? Sunday 31 May 2026
- What time is kick off? 15:30 (ET) & 12:30 (PT)
- Where is it played? Bank of America Stadium - Charlotte, North Carolina.
How to watch United States vs Senegal
In the USA, this match is live on a wide-variety of broadcasters. This includes HBO Max, Peacock, TNT, truTV, Westwood One Sports as well as Telemundo and UNIVERSO in Spanish. In the UK & Ireland, this international friendly will be live on Premier Sports 1.
Country | Broadcasters |
|---|---|
USA | HBO Max, Peacock, TNT, truTV, Westwood One Sports, Telemundo & UNIVERSO |
UK & Ireland | Premier Sports 1 |
Spain | Movistar+ |
Germany | DAZN |
France | L'Équipe Live Foot |
Central & South America | Disney+ |
Senegal | RTS 1 |
Africa | StarTimes App |
United States vs Senegal head-to-head record
These two national teams have never previously met. The Lions of Téranga will become the 106th different national team the Stars and Stripes have faced at senior men's international level, and the tenth from Africa.
United States vs Senegal's upcoming fixtures
United States
Competition | Date & kick off | Opponent | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
Friendly | 6 June - 2:30 ET | Germany | Soldier Field |
World Cup Group D | 12 June - 9pm ET | Paraguay | SoFi Stadium |
World Cup Group D | 19 June - 3pm ET | Australia | Lumen Field |
World Cup Group D | 25 June - 10pm ET | Türkiye | SoFi Stadium |
Senegal
Competition | Date & kick off | Opponent | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
Friendly | 9 June - 7pm ET | Saudi Arabia | Toyota Field |
World Cup Group I | 16 June - 3pm ET | France | MetLife Stadium |
World Cup Group I | 22 June - 8pm ET | Norway | MetLife Stadium |
World Cup Group I | 26 June - 3pm ET | Iraq | BMO Field |
United States vs Senegal match preview
This is the third instalment of a men's national team Allstate Continental Clasico. The first was in Arizona against Mexico, a team from the same continent, before taking on Brazil, a country from a conjoining continent, in Orlando. Now, they are in Charlotte for a clash with Senegal, who are from a completely different continent entirely; what are even the rules here?
In all seriousness, sponsored branding aside, this will be a proper examination of the team Mauricio Pochettino has built. In March, the U.S. were beaten by both Belgium and Portugal in Atlanta, having also lost friendlies against Türkiye and Switzerland last June. They did enjoy wins over Japan, Australia, Paraguay and Uruguay in-between, but a victory either here or against Germany in Illinois next Saturday, or perhaps even both, will only help to build belief before the serious business begins.
Chris Richards surely won't feature, after his involvement in Wednesday's UEFA Conference League final in Leipzig. Aside from that, Pochettino pretty much has a full roster from which to choose, so his lineup and substitutes could give us a clue as to whom will start at SoFI on 12 June.
Senegal, similarly, also have one more friendly to come after this one. They will head south to take on Saudi Arabia in San Antonio a week on Tuesday, before two very tough World Cup opening fixtures against France and Norway at MetLife. Victory in their final clash with Iraq in Toronto should see them progress regardless.
The Lions of Téranga beat England 3-1 in Nottingham 12 months ago, underlining their capabilities. They too are likely to be without a Crystal Palace star, namely Ismaïla Sarr, but Sadio Mané will start. His 52 international goals have come against 30 different opponents, looking to add USA to this list.
With Kalidou Koulibaly, Idrissa Gana Gueye, Lamine Camara, Pape Matar Sarr, Iliman Ndiaye and Nicolas Jackson also likely to be in the visitors' XI, a U.S. victory would be a noteworthy achievement.
