Pochettino Unfazed

Manager Pleased With Group Win, Despite Loss in Final Match

Mauricio Pochettino wasn't going to let a last-second loss ruin his mood, even if he had a hard time hiding his irritation with the media afterward.

Speaking at his postgame press conference following the 3-2 defeat to Turkey on Thursday, Pochettino pushed back sharply on questions suggesting the result could dent the Americans' momentum heading into the Round of 32. He pointed out that Germany also lost their final group game and questioned what "momentum" even means in this context.

"I think it's all positive, and I am so positive, and I am happy," Pochettino said. "Maybe I am not showing because your questions are a little bit weird, but I am so happy, and the players are happy because I think we perform, we compete, and we are first."

He also noted, more than once, that nobody in the room had congratulated him for winning Group D. "Sorry guys, we won," he said before standing and leaving.

His rotation strategy was entirely deliberate. With first place already secured before kickoff, Pochettino made nine changes from the side that beat Australia, resting key players like Chris Richards and Folarin Balogun while shielding Tyler Adams and Antonee Robinson from yellow card accumulation ahead of Wednesday's match with Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also used the match to give Christian Pulisic meaningful minutes following the calf injury that had sidelined him since the Paraguay opener.

Reports from ESPN, meanwhile, indicate that Pochettino and U.S. Soccer have had positive preliminary discussions about a contract extension through the 2030 World Cup, though no decision is expected until the tournament concludes.

Knockout Round Awaits

History Shows The U.S. Has Struggled After Surviving the Group Stage

For most of its history, the United States men's national team has been a group-stage survivor at best, and Thursday's defeat to Turkey was a reminder of how far the program has come, even as it raised familiar questions about what happens when the knockout rounds begin.

The U.S. has appeared in twelve World Cups, but the resume is thin when it comes to advancing. The Americans made the semifinals in the inaugural 1930 tournament, still their best-ever finish, and famously knocked off England in 1950, but were then absent from the competition entirely until 1990. Of the eight tournaments they've entered since returning, they advanced from the group stage five times: 1994, 2002, 2010, 2014 and 2022.

Knockout success, however, has been rare. The U.S. has won exactly one knockout match in its history—a 2-0 victory over Mexico in the 2002 quarterfinals, before falling to Germany in the next round. Every other knockout appearance has ended in defeat, including losses to Brazil, Ghana, Belgium and the Netherlands.

That context makes 2026 feel different. The U.S. won Group D with two wins before the Turkey match, the first time in their history they'd clinched top spot before the final group game. They've scored eight goals in the group stage alone, setting their all-time record for goals in a World Cup. And they've done it on home soil, in front of crowds that have turned every match into a genuine spectacle.

Now comes the part that has always tripped them up. Bosnia and Herzegovina await Wednesday in Santa Clara.

Türkiye Beats U.S.

Group Winners Fall to the Last-Place Team in Final Group Stage Match

Kaan Ayhan's stoppage-time strike handed Türkiye a 3-2 victory over the United States on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium, spoiling what had been a compelling comeback by Mauricio Pochettino's side in a group stage finale that carried little consequence for the Americans.

The U.S. had already clinched Group D with wins over Paraguay and Australia, and Pochettino reflected that by rotating nine starters for the contest. The move paid dividends in the opening minutes when Auston Trusty volleyed home in the third minute to send the sellout Los Angeles crowd into a frenzy—the Americans' seventh goal of the tournament, tying their all-time World Cup scoring record.

Türkiye answered quickly, though. Arda Güler and Orkun Kökçü struck in the first half to flip the scoreboard, with Güler, the 21-year-old Real Madrid standout, involved in both goals. Sebastian Berhalter restored parity just after the break with a thunderous effort from distance, setting up a frantic final half hour.

The most anticipated moment of the night came in the 58th minute, when Christian Pulisic checked in for his first action since leaving the Paraguay opener with a calf injury. The AC Milan midfielder was electric immediately, creating chances and nearly scoring before a 63rd-minute effort rattled the post. Brenden Aaronson couldn't convert the rebound.

In the eighth minute of stoppage time, Can Uzun found space at the back post and laid the ball across for Ayhan to slide home the winner—a gut-punch finish that snapped the Americans' perfect record heading into their Round of 32 date with Bosnia and Herzegovina next Wednesday.

U.S. vs Turkiye: A Soccer History

All Five Matches Between the Two Nations Have Been Close Contests

Thursday's group finale at SoFi Stadium will mark just the sixth all-time meeting between the United States and Turkey, a rivalry that, while brief, has produced no shortage of drama across three decades.

The two nations first met in September 1991, when Frank Klopas earned the Americans a 1-1 draw in Istanbul. Their most consequential clash came at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, where Turkey handed the U.S. a 2-1 group-stage defeat. DaMarcus Beasley provided the lone American goal on the way to the USMNT's early elimination from the competition.

The Americans then strung together back-to-back friendly victories. Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey scored in a 2-1 win in Philadelphia ahead of the 2010 World Cup, and Dempsey joined Fabian Johnson on the scoresheet for another 2-1 result at Red Bull Arena in 2014.

The most recent meeting came just last summer, a tightly contested friendly in which Jack McGlynn struck in the opening minute before Turkey rallied to win 2-1.

That leaves the all-time series perfectly deadlocked at two wins, two losses and a draw apiece. Both nations also have significant World Cup history—Turkey's remarkable third-place finish in 2002 and the USMNT's consistent presence on the global stage—making Thursday's dead rubber a chance to tip the balance.

Turkiye Eliminated

Expected to Get Out of Group D, Turkiye Eliminated Before Their Final Group Stage Match

Turkiye arrives in Los Angeles on Thursday as a team already heading home, eliminated after two matches, scoreless, and still searching for answers.

The Crescent Stars entered their first World Cup in 24 years, riding enormous expectations, buoyed by a golden generation anchored by Real Madrid's Arda Guler and Juventus winger Kenan Yildiz. Instead, they produced one of the tournament's most bewildering collapses. Across defeats to Australia and Paraguay, Turkey launched 62 total shots without finding the net—the most by any team in a two-match span without scoring since records began in 1966.

Against Paraguay on Friday, Turkey mustered 32 attempts and faced a man-down opposition for more than 45 minutes, yet still fell 1-0 to Matias Galarza's stunning opener just 70 seconds in. A Mert Muldur header that struck the crossbar and post in the 35th minute was the closest they came.

"We tried very hard, but it didn't work," Guler said afterward. "Everybody's sad, everybody's crying."

Coach Vincenzo Montella's rigid 4-2-3-1 system was consistently decoded by opponents, and his reluctance to adapt proved costly. For the USMNT, Thursday's dead rubber represents a low-stakes audition for fringe players, and one final tune-up before the knockout stage begins.

A Manager's Plan

Pochettino's Patience Pays Off as USMNT Silences Doubters

A year ago, Mauricio Pochettino faced calls for his job. Now, after a 2-0 win over Australia sent the United States to the World Cup knockout stage with a game to spare for the first time in tournament history, the Argentine coach is being celebrated as the architect of something genuinely special.

Pochettino arrived in late 2024 carrying an elite résumé, having led Tottenham to its only Champions League final and won league and cup titles at Paris Saint-Germain while managing some of the world's best players. Landing him was considered a coup for U.S. Soccer. But results soured quickly: losses to Panama and Canada at the 2025 Nations League finals, followed by a damaging defeat to South Korea in September, fueled growing frustration among fans and pundits alike.

Pochettino stood by his group throughout, then closed out 2025 on a five-game unbeaten run capped by a lopsided win over Uruguay. Still, defeats to Belgium and Portugal in March reignited criticism just before he named his 26-man World Cup roster.

Through it all, his players never wavered. Goalkeeper Matt Freese said the squad maintained total belief in Pochettino's process even at the lowest points, while defender Chris Richards pointed to the coach's track record and the passion the team has tried to channel from him.

That faith has been vindicated in Seattle, where fans chanted Pochettino's name after Friday's win, and he called the support from nearly 70,000 fans amazing. With the Americans now unbeaten through two group games and into the knockout rounds, the narrative around Pochettino has flipped entirely—from a coach on the hot seat to one whose long-term vision is finally being realized on the sport's biggest stage.

Freese Quietly Steady

Though Undertested in the First Two Matches, Goalkeeper Holding Strong as USMNT's World Cup Run Continues

Through two World Cup matches, Matt Freese has done exactly what's been asked of him: very little, and done it well.

The New York City FC goalkeeper made history simply by stepping onto the field against Paraguay on June 12, becoming the first active MLS player to start a World Cup match in net for the U.S., and the first Harvard alumnus ever to appear in a men's World Cup. He played the full match in that 4-1 win, facing only two shots on target and conceding once, a workload kept light by a U.S. backline of Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Alex Freeman and Antonee Robinson that gave Paraguay little room to operate.

Five days later against Australia, Freese was barely tested again, recording two saves in a 2-0 victory that clinched the Americans' spot in the knockout rounds with a match to spare. The clean sheet marked his second straight World Cup start, with the U.S. controlling play from the opening whistle behind an early own goal and a first-half header from Freeman.

There's been little drama in Freese's tournament so far—no costly errors, no moments of real peril, just a composed, low-event presence behind a defense that has done much of the heavy lifting. That precision tracks with his background: Freese, the son of a neurosurgeon and nephew of a theoretical astrophysicist, even penned an analytical research paper on penalty kicks while at Harvard, once describing goalkeeping as a matter of "maximizing the surface area of the goal that you can cover at any given point."

With his World Cup debut now behind him, Freese's next test arrives June 25 against Türkiye, as the U.S. looks to close out Group D play, though Freese may be rotated out for Matt Turner ahead of the knockout round.

Freeman's Rapid Rise

An Eventful 18 Months for the Defender Culminate in World Cup Goal

A year and a half ago, Alex Freeman didn't have a single cap for the U.S. men's national team. On Friday in Seattle, he scored the goal that sealed the Americans' place in the World Cup knockout rounds.

Freeman's header, finishing off a deflected Sergiño Dest shot, was initially flagged offside before video review confirmed he'd timed his run correctly. As the goal was awarded, Freeman sprinted to celebrate with teammates gathered on the opposite side of the field. He later explained he'd planned to celebrate elsewhere before Cristian Roldan and others waved him over, joking he nearly bolted for the corner flag instead.

It capped a whirlwind year for the 21-year-old, who made just his 19th international appearance Friday after debuting with Orlando City's academy and breaking into the first team in 2022. A $7 million move to La Liga side Villarreal followed in January. Reflecting on the pace of his ascent, Freeman admitted it's been difficult to fully process, saying he's adjusting to a "fast pace at such a young age."

Coach Mauricio Pochettino credited much of Freeman's development to his time under former Orlando City coach Oscar Pareja, calling Freeman an eager, coachable presence the staff has thoroughly enjoyed working with, and suggested the young defender could become one of the world's best at his position.

The son of former NFL receiver Antonio Freeman, Alex has been careful to carve out his own identity, saying his father's success shows him that he, too, can find greatness in his own way. He grew emotional during the national anthem before kickoff, reflecting on years of work culminating in that moment in front of a home crowd loud enough to register seismic activity after his goal—a fitting exclamation point on his breakout tournament.

Own-Goal Luck

USMNT's Own-Goal Total Carries Deep World Cup Roots

The U.S. men's national team made history at the 2026 World Cup by becoming the first squad ever to open the scoring via an own goal in back-to-back matches—both the product of relentless American pressure rather than chance.

Against Paraguay on June 12, midfielder Damián Bobadilla turned the ball into his own net just seven minutes in, setting the tone for a 4-1 U.S. win. A week later against Australia, Folarin Balogun surged down the left and fired a dangerous cross into the box that Cameron Burgess could only deflect past his own goalkeeper, opening a 2-0 American victory built on heavy pressing and 75% possession.

The pair of own goals pushed the Americans' all-time World Cup total to five, placing them second behind only France in goals gifted by opponents' own players.

It's not the first time fortune has smiled on the U.S. in this fashion. At the 1994 World Cup on home soil, Colombian defender Andrés Escobar inadvertently redirected a U.S. cross into his own net, helping the Americans to a stunning 2-1 win over Colombia in Pasadena—a result that preceded the tragic murder of Escobar back in Medellín. Own goals have also factored into other landmark U.S. results, including the 2002 upset of Portugal, when a deflection off Jorge Costa contributed to an early 3-0 lead in a 3-2 victory, and the chaotic, three-red-card 2006 draw with Italy, leveled by a Cristian Zaccardo own goal.

Taken together, the pattern stretches back more than three decades, reinforcing a recurring thread in American World Cup history: aggressive, high-pressure soccer that has repeatedly forced opposing defenders into costly, self-inflicted mistakes at the game's biggest stage.

U.S. Roll Past Australia

Americans Punch Ticket to Knockouts Without Pulisic

The United States didn't need Christian Pulisic to keep its World Cup surge alive. Missing its biggest star due to a calf injury, the Americans dispatched Australia 2-0 in Seattle on Friday, clinching a spot in the knockout round with a group-stage match still to play.

It's the first time since 1930 that the U.S. men have won consecutive World Cup matches, and the formula looked familiar. Folarin Balogun beat his man down the left in the 11th minute and whipped in a cross that Australia's Cameron Burgess could only turn into his own net—the second straight match the Americans have benefited from an early own goal. Alex Freeman, the 21-year-old son of former NFL receiver Antonio Freeman, doubled the lead just before halftime, heading home a deflected Sergiño Dest strike after a lengthy video review confirmed the goal stood.

Ricardo Pepi stepped into the lineup in Pulisic's absence and helped anchor the American press, while the midfield trio of Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie and Malik Tillman controlled the tempo throughout a physical, foul-heavy contest. Australia coach Tony Popovic later admitted his side struggled to match the Americans' pace and intensity early on.

Coach Mauricio Pochettino praised Freeman's rapid development, saying the young defender has the tools to become elite at his position, and credited the team's overall approach for the result. Pulisic, who has battled the calf issue since before the tournament opener, remains questionable for the U.S.'s final group game, though the team says his injury is trending in the right direction.

With the win, the Americans need just a draw in their next match to secure the top spot in Group D and a more favorable path through the knockout rounds—a milestone moment for a program hoping to ride this momentum deep into the tournament on home soil.