The United States men’s national team’s depth couldn’t sweat out a positive result as Turkiye scratched out a last-gasp 3-2 win in a Los Angeles-based thriller at the 2026 World Cup early Friday.
The Yanks made 10 changes to their Starting XI and left Christian Pulisic on the bench until just before the hour mark.
MORE — USMNT player ratings versus Turkiye
They led early through Auston Trusty but went behind 2-1 as Man of the Match winner Arda Guler scored and helped set up another.
Sebastian Berhalter’s rocket goal made it 2-2 in the 49th minute and the Americans were very good for much of the ensuing 35-40 minutes before Turkiye got a foothold aided by Trusty’s ankle injury after the USMNT were out of subs.
FULL MATCH REPLAY — USA vs Turkiye, en Español
Mauricio Pochettino’s had beaten Paraguay and Australia to seal their place in the Round of 32 as group winners, and a draw would’ve felt magnificent.
Instead, Turkiye dodge a winless tournament and Mauricio Pochettino turns his attention to a July 1 Round of 32 match in California against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The USMNT’s group stage a huge win despite loss
Winning their first two games meant the opportunity to make all of these changes and give valuable experience to everyone on the roster not named Max Arfsten and Chris Brady. That means no yellow card accumulation suspensions for their best players and the chance to rest Christian Pulisic until the hour mark of this loss (By the way, he looked very good in his short run after missing all but 45 minutes of the opener with a calf ailment). There are still questions about whether they can ride their backs and an unproven goalkeeper deep into this tournament, but the Pochettino experiment is an unqualified success after the group stage. It’s a shame he won’t be sticking around the set-up beyond this World Cup.
Pochettino’s depth at the back not enough
The goalkeeper wasn’t great and the center backs got off to a rough start and that cost the United States men’s national team its first perfect group stage of a World Cup. It’s as simple as that. The USMNT are as strong and as deep as ever but there’s a drop-off between their top 13-14 players and the rest of this group. An injury to Cristian Roldan and yellow card suspension threat for Tyler Adams meant Sebastian Berhalter had to go 90 minutes and he was very good — especially considering he played most of the game on a yellow card. But Johnny Cardoso is injured and Tanner Tessman and Aidan Morris were left off the roster and that limited the chance to make subs in the middle of the park. Meanwhile, Chris Richards, Alex Freeman, and Tim Ream were rested to start the game and Miles Robinson and Mark McKenzie had slow starts (Auston Trusty was very good as a makeshift left back and may have just surged into the “next man up” spot at any spot along the back three. There would’ve been no shame in dropping this game to a team like Turkiye even with the starters out there.
Arda Guler, take a bow
Sensational might not be a strong enough word to describe the performance of Real Madrid playmaker Arda Guler, who had a role in all three of Turkiye’s goals and flashed all sorts of talent right up to his nutmeg of Christian Pulisic on the match-winning goal. Turkiye are going home after getting grouped as presumptive group favorites but don’t put it on the 21-year-old. Guler was all over the pitch and sauntered about with special skill when he was working the right side. He was good against Australia and fine against Paraguay — not bad for the worst showing of his first World Cup. What a talent.
USMNT vs Turkiye final score: 2-3
Auston Trusty 3', Arda Guler 10', Orkun Kokcu 31', Sebastian Berhalter 49', Kaan Ayhan 90+8'
The USMNT will meet Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday, July 1 in Santa Clara, California.
USA’s depth isn’t good enough to win a knockout round game, but they got plenty of good vibes with the early goal and comeback to draw level at two.
A mess to end it.
Pulisic is nutmegged and Dest was uninterested in marking the opposite flank.
The ball is passed under Turner and Alex Freeman only get a small piece of it on the way to 31-year-old back Kaan Ayhan who wins it with one of the very last kicks of the game.
¡TURQUÍA SORPRENDE EN EL ÚLTIMO MINUTO!
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 26, 2026
Kaan Ayhan selló la victoria para su selección al minuto 98'. pic.twitter.com/XBgFr6p6pA
The Celtic man has been excellent at left back but he’s in quite a bit of pain and has a heavy limp as he slowly makes his way pitch on the edge of seven minutes’ stoppage time. Clearly it will be a bit more than that.
Pulisic doesn’t see the ball as it clips off his shin and is touched off the bar by Ugurcan Cakir, and the keeper is injured on the play.
Pulisic tears around the left side and sees his shot blocked toward the penalty spot.
A late arriving Brenden Aaronson makes an absolute mess of what should’ve been 3-2.
The U.S. superstar enters the game for a struggling Timothy Weah.
He’s produced a dangerous moment within a couple of minutes, and the Yanks win a corner than Trusty can’t put on goal.
A frozen rope.
A ball falls to Sebastian Berhalter on the left of the 18 and he gets absolutely all of it.
Imagine the emotions of Gregg Berhalter right now.
Not good enough, to be sure, but also not terrible.
The Yanks flew out of the traps but didn’t respond once Turkiye grabbed their equalizer.
Arda Guler has looked exceptional and both the USA midfield and center backs are not covering themselves in glory.
The U.S. are out-attempting Turkiye 8-4 but many of those felt early in the match. Turkiye lead in xG by nearly double but the Yanks have almost 60 percent of the ball.
Good goal, substandard defending.
Weston McKennie loses his mark and that helps an incisive move which sees Miles Robinson flailing to block an Eren Elmali pass and McKenzie only able to watch Orkun Kokcu snap the ball home.
Guler is cooking tonight, playing a key role in getting the ball to Elmali.
A corner kick is touched twice before Mark McKenzie sends the ball over the goal line, but the back is offside on both touches.
Nasty challenge by Sebastian Berhalter, who rips open the sock of a Turkish player with a studs-up tackle.
He sees yellow in the 19th minute.
Comedic mistakes at the back and the Real Madrid man Arda Guler scores a good goal from a central position.
Mark McKenzie loses his bearings and Miles Robinson cannot get a grip on Baris Alper Yilmaz, who finds Guler.
Auston Trusty can’t believe his luck.
The Yanks earn a corner after nearly scoring in the first two minutes, then capitalize on the set piece.
The ball is swept over both teams to the Celtic back at the back post. He settles and hammers home for a third-minute lead!
¡ESTADOS UNIDOS MADRUGA A TURQUÍA!
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 26, 2026
Auston Trusty define en el área chica con tremendo zurdazo y el TEAM USA pega con gol tempranero. pic.twitter.com/CEMuHCHrV8
Field mics can do a lot of work but there were no tricks there — judging by the fans singing the “Star Spangled Banner” tonight, L.A. is alive for this game.
The biggest opportunities here would seem to be for Timothy Weah — already a starter for Pochettino during this tenure — and Haji Wright, who has scored big goals for the USMNT including at the World Cup.
Who are you most excited to see?
Turkiye XI: Ugurcan, Celik, Ozcan, Kokcu, Guler, Yildiz, Elmali, Abdulkerim, Kabak, Raris, Ocuz
... is on the bench. Perhaps we’ll see him for 30 minutes, maybe the full second half?
By the time the game kicks off, only Max Arfsten, Alex Zendejas, and third goalkeeper Chris Brady will not have seen action at this World Cup.
So many changes!
Matt Turner’s in goal, with Auston Trusty, Miles Robinson, Joe Scally, and Mark McKenzie at the back.
Sebastian Berthalter will work the middle with Weston McKennie, while Brenden Aaronson, Gio Reyna, and Tim Weah are underneath Ricardo Pepi.
Kick off time: 10 pm ET Thursday (June 25)
Venue: SoFi Stadium — Los Angeles
TV Channel: Telemundo
Streaming: Stream live on Peacock, en Espanol
