Against a much-changed United States starting XI, Türkiye’s Kaan Ayhan scored a 98th-minute winner to stun the USMNT 3-2 in front of an electric home crowd at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
With the United States already having won Group D, USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino opted to make nine changes to the starting XI that beat Australia. He also told reporters that players on yellow cards, midfielder Tyler Adams, forward Folarin Balogun, defender Chris Richards, and outside back Antonee Robinson, wouldn’t play due to their risk of suspension for the round-of-32.
Despite the wholesale changes, USMNT and Celtic defender Auston Trusty scored just three minutes into the match. However, Arda Güler and Baris Alper Yilmaz would respond with goals in the first 31 minutes to give Türkiye the lead before Sebastian Berhalter equalized for the Americans early in the second half.
Despite the meaningless nature of the match, the USMNT will certainly be disappointed for not capping off their first-ever perfect group-stage run.
Plenty of positives
The USMNT supporters will be plenty happy to see Christian Pulisic return from injury while looking extremely effective after coming in off the bench in the 58th minute.
While Pochettino was thrilled with the USMNT winning the group, he was much less thrilled with the questions he fielded in his post-match conference. In fact, the former Chelsea, PSG, and Tottenham manager abruptly ended his presser after his obvious disapproval at the tone of the question.
“The objective was not just to win, but to get Christian 30-40 minutes,” Pochettino said. “He finished well, and he made an impact on the pitch.”
“No one congratulated us for finishing first in a very difficult group,” Pochettino said. “I congratulate the players, staff, and fans. Now I’ll answer your question. You always learn when you are in a World Cup. We’re a much better team now than we were before,” Pochettino said. “That will be put to the test next game.”
“I’m happy, maybe I’m not showing because your questions are a little bit weird. But I’m happy, the players are happy because we are first. I’m confused, maybe the vibes are like we go home tonight and Turkey stays (in the World Cup), no?
“It cannot be possible that Turkey celebrates three points, Australia celebrates getting through, Paraguay celebrates getting through … for you to not say congratulations for winning the group, it’s a little bit sad,” Pochettino said.
“I need to remind everyone we won the group, sorry guys, we won.”
From a player’s perspective, the match was all about improving on the little things and being ready for their Round-of-32 clash with confirmed opponents Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“I’m not worried at all,” Brendan Aaronson said. “I think the team’s in a great spot.”
“We lost the game, but I don’t think it was a game to lose. We had a lot of chances, and we could have done better in some defensive plays. … I still think it was a top game, and we need to move on, of course. But we’re full of confidence. I’m not worried about it.”
Group D final table
| Pos | Team | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 6 |
| 2 | Australia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Paraguay | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 4 |
| 4 | Turkiye | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 3 |
What’s next for the USMNT?
Even before the match kicked off, it was confirmed that the USMNT would take on Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup Round of 32. Bosnia qualified as the third-placed team in Group B and was confirmed as one of the top 8 third-placed teams. The two sides will face off in Santa Clara, California, on July 1st.
Should the United States advance to the Round of 16, they will take on the winner of the match between the winner of Group G and a third-place team from Group A, H, I, or J. That match would take place on July 6 in Seattle.
At the moment, the supercomputer from The Athletic gives Egypt a 60% chance of being the Group G winner and South Korea a 67% chance of filling the other space. Many USMNT supporters and pundits alike would agree that this path is quite favorable for the USMNT, who are looking to make its first quarterfinal appearance since 2002.
For those interested in a potential clash with rivals Mexico, it could only take place in what would be an epic and incredibly unlikely World Cup final, as they have been put on opposite sides of the bracket.
