Image credit: ABC News

The Draw Everyone Wanted

Australia landed in Group D with host nation USA, Paraguay, and a European playoff winner. Coach Tony Popovic is confident but American analysts are already calling it a "lay-up".

The Group D Breakdown

1. USA (ranked 14th) - home advantage, massive pressure to perform

2. Paraguay (ranked 39th) - beatable on paper

3. Australia (ranked 26th) - "anyone who underestimates us will get a rude shock" says Popovic

4. European playoff team - either Türkiye (25th), Romania (47th), Slovakia (45th), or Kosovo (80th)

What It Means

Playing in the western region means matches in California, Seattle, and Vancouver. Over 150,000 Aussies already registered for ticket ballot.

Top 2 teams advance automatically. Even 3rd place gets you through if you're one of the 8 best third-placed teams out of 12 groups.

The Shade from America

Former US player Mike Grella on CBS called the Socceroos matchup a "lay-up" and said Australia "stumbled through qualifying" and "were not so impressive". Americans think they got handed an easy path to knockouts.

Plot twist - that kind of overconfidence is exactly when Australia does best.

Full schedule drops Saturday 4am AEDT. FIFA also gave Trump a "Peace Prize" at the glitzy draw event because apparently that's a thing now.