Four Key Takeaways From USMNT’s Heartbreaking Yet Meaningless Loss to Turkiye

The U.S. men’s national team missed out on achieving its first-ever perfect group stage finish.

The USMNT left the group stage on a loss. | Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

The U.S. men’s national team’s dreamy World Cup group stage came to a nightmarish end on Friday, falling to Türkiye 3–2 in the dying seconds of stoppage time at SoFi Stadium.

The match was technically of no consequence for tournament standings—the USMNT having already secured the top spot in Group D, while Türkiye will be sent packing. Nevertheless, the U.S. lost out on the opportunity to not only enter the knockout stage with maximum confidence, but also make more history on home soil, achieving a first-ever perfect group stage finish at soccer’s most competitive tournament.

The U.S., who employed a heavily-rotated roster of nine new starters, will be eager to get back to the basics and its most trusted players. It now turns its attentions to Bosnia & Herzegovina, the third-place finisher from Group B that it will face in the round of 32 on Wednesday.

---

Defensive Failures

Auston Trusty was beaten multiple times down the left flank. | Alex Grimm/Getty Images

After taking 62 shots across the first two group stage matches and scoring zero goals, nobody expected Türkiye to score twice against the U.S. on just three shots in the first half hour, taking the lead.

The four men in the U.S.’s backline—a completely changed unit, featuring Auston Trusty, Mark McKenzie, Miles Robinson and Joe Scally—seemed more bewildered than anyone, though, utterly frantic in their attempts to react to the Crescent-Stars aggressive attack, especially in the first half.

It was exactly the backline’s reactive nature, lacking any semblance of proactivity, that kept them under high pressure and turned what should have been a fortifying wall in front of goalkeeper Matt Turner into a flimsy piece of Swiss cheese. The Americans were easily exploited by the Turkish forwards, especially down the flanks, as Trusty was simply beaten on the one-on-one, and Scally was often caught ball-watching.

SI World Cup Fanzone | SI World Cup Fanzone

Sure, Türkiye is due much credit. The team, fighting for any form of consolation before flying back home, presented a formidable attack in the first interval, perhaps even taking a play out of the U.S.’s book with its sheer front-footedness early in the match. It was clinical in its build-up, with young star Arda Güler, 21, pulling all of the creative strings.

Nevertheless, the backline struggled to adjust to Türkiye’s antics. It fell prey toits savvy give-and-go sequences on three separate occasions and allowed the ball to split the space between the center back and fullback on both sides—two penetrating passes that led to Türkiye’s first two goals. The backline struggled to respond with a tighter formation that was better connected.

The porousness of the defense, eliciting Türkiye’s sustained high press, even forced lone striker Ricardo Pepi to drop lower than he likely intended, prioritizing defending in a way that took him out of several key opportunities for a quick counterattack. Similarly, left winger Timothy Weah had to drop into more frequent defensive positions, rendering him anonymous for much of the match. Right winger Brenden Aaronson and attacking midfielder Gio Reyna were all together absent.

The one area the U.S. backline did excel in, though, was in the air. Combined, they had 13 headed clearances.

Pochettino will be eager to get his star defenders, especially center back Chris Richards and fullback Antonee Robinson, back in the starting lineup against Bosnia & Herzegovina. None of the defenders on Friday proved that they deserved a spot in the starting lineup moving forward.

---

Set Piece Success

Sebastian Berhalter was integral to the USMNT’s set piece goals on Friday. | John Dorton/USSF/Getty Images

For everything that went wrong on Friday, the U.S. proved its dominance in two key areas: a match’s opening minutes and offensive set pieces.

Trusty opened the game’s scoring in the third minute, firing a shot from the back post off an in-swinging corner kick from Sebastian Berhalter, marking his first career international goal. It was the U.S.’s third-consecutive World Cup match in which the team scored a goal within the first 11 minutes.

McKenzie nearly added a goal himself off a set piece just 25 minutes later. He capitalized on an out-swinger from Berhalter, responding to a rebounded save by goalkeeper Ugurcan Çakir with a blasted shot through the net. It was later ruled offside; however, the moment served to prove the U.S.’s aggression on set pieces.

The U.S. earned its second goal in the 49th minute from Berhalter, who fired a first-time shot from outside the box on a rebounded long throw taken by McKenzie.

The USMNT will need to rely on its set piece prowess and early scoring tendencies to get a leg up in the more competitive knockout stages.

---

Christian Pulisic Returns

Christian Pulisic got back in action on Thursday. | Patrick T. FALLON/AFP/Getty Images

A thunderous roar from the fans that shook the very foundation of SoFi Stadium signified the return of USMNT star player Pulisic.

“Captain America,” largely regarded as one of the best Americans to ever play the game, alongside the likes of Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan, took the pitch in the 58th minute for the first time since the World Cup opener against Paraguay.

After dazzling across the first 45 minutes against the South Americans, notching an assist and creating numerous attacking opportunities en route to the eventual 4–1 victory, Pulisic was subbed off at the interval. The winger had re-aggravated a pre-existing calf injury, requiring him to miss the rest of the match as well as the subsequent outing against Australia.

Pulisic entered Friday’s game in full health, though, and immediately proved why he is so vital to the team. He created three big chances within just the first five minutes of being on the pitch, helping set a much better tone for the second half. He took a joint-most three shots, two of which were on frame, and had 100% accuracy in his passes, completing 12 for 12.

Once he gets back into his regular rhythm, he will prove integral to the U.S.’s knockout stage endeavors.

---

Loss of Momentum?

The USMNT will be disappointed after Friday’s loss. | Sarah Stier/FIFA/Getty Images

The U.S. came into the match red-hot after dismantling Paraguay and Australia handily. Only time will tell how the late loss against Türkiye affects the U.S.’s momentum in the knockout stages.

Perhaps, Pochettino weighed this exact scenario, recognizing the very likelihood that the U.S. might walk away with a loss. After all, he implemented a vastly new starting lineup and kept the likes of midfield anchor Tyler Adams, scoring machine Folarin Balogun and defensive stalwart Richards on the bench. Perhaps Pochettino figured that the benefit of having rested legs—and no yellow card suspensions—for the round of 32 outweighs the potential loss of momentum from a subsequent draw or loss.

Nevertheless, the U.S. will be disappointed in the result and that it narrowly missed out on making history.

---