With a Round of 32 spot already clinched, the U.S. takes on Turkey in the World Cup

With a Round of 32 spot already clinched, the U.S. takes on Turkey in the World Cup June 25, 202612:00 AM ET Becky Sullivan Folarin Balogun (r) of the U.S. celebrates scoring his team's second goal with Weston McKennie during their World Cup match against Paraguay on June 12 in Inglewood, Calif. The U.S. defeated Paraguay and, later, Australia. The U.S. wraps up group play against Turkey on Thursday evening. Win, lose or draw, the U.S. has already won its group and will advance to the knockout round. Richard Heathcote/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Richard Heathcote/Getty Images INGLEWOOD, Calif. — For the U.S. men's national soccer team, a loss in Thursday night's FIFA World Cup game against Turkey wouldn't change anything. A win, though, would be history. Soccer Edition Portugal's Ronaldo shakes off World Cup doubters, scores 2 after sluggish start The squad's earlier wins over Paraguay and Australia, plus two losses by Turkey to the same teams, mean the Americans have already won their group and clinched a favorable path in the knockout round, no matter the outcome of Thursday's game. But the American men have never won more than two games in a single World Cup. A third win would be new territory for this team, which has not been shy about its aspirations in this tournament and its confidence about living up to them. Sponsor Message "The group stage is not done yet. We want to end it the right way. We want to end it the way we came into it and continue to build off of the momentum that we've been creating," said defender Mark McKenzie, speaking to reporters Wednesday. Soccer Edition US eases restriction on Iran's World Cup team, allowing travel 2 days before next match Because the outcome of the game does not affect knockout-round placement, the U.S. can rest key starters who will enter the match with a yellow card. For those players — defenders Antonee Robinson and Chris Richards, midfielder Tyler Adams and forward Folarin Balogun — picking up a second...