USMN team head coach Mauricio Pottechino shuffled his side’s lineup for its final Group Stage game. Pottechino inserted nine players into the USMNT’s contest in Los Angeles against winless Türkiye.
Ricado Peppi and Captain Westin McKennie were the only two holdovers from the team’s Group-clinching 2-0 win over Australia.
On the bench for Pochettino were Sergino Dest, Chris Richards, Tyler Adams, Antonee Robinson, Christian Pulisic, Tim Ream, Alex Freeman, Malik Tillman, Max Arfsten, Haji Wright, Folarin Balogun, Matt Freese, Chris Brady, and Alex Zendejas. SoundersFC player and Los Angeles native Cristian Roldan was not addressed for the game due to an ongoing leg injury.
DREAM START
Similar to the Australia game, the Stars and Stripes started on the front foot and took the early lead on a corner kick. A well-worked corner that set up a wall inside the Turkey box set up Sebastian Berkholter’s cross, which found a wide-open Auston Trusty on the back side. With time and space, Trusty blasted the ball into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead three minutes into the game.
TEAM PLAYING FOR PRIDE
Having lost its first two games, Turkey surprised the home crowd and pleased its fans with its resolve and determination. Rather than buckle after the early goal, Turkiye threw caution to the wind and pressured the USMNT midblock with tight marking and creativity when in possession. The result was a well-worked counter goal seven minutes after the U.S. goal. A give-and-go between midfielder Arda Guler and forward Baris Yilmaz split the U.S. backline, resulting in a point bank blast by Guler. The goal gave Türkiye confidence to continue pushing forward, hunting for a second gal. The go-ahead goal came minutes after a U.S. goal was disallowed for offside. Sebastian Berhalter’s outswing corner found Miles Robinson, and the ball ended in a scramble that ended with a Weston McKennie goal, which was ultimately disallowed
TURKIYE TAKE THE LEAD
Yilmaz turned scorer after a cutback from midfielder Orkun Kokcu, who took advantage of more poor marking by the U.S. defenders in the 31st minute. Turkiye worked the ball down the left flank, which stretched the U.S. backline and enabled Kokcu to cut the ball across the U.S. goalmouth to the wide-open Yilmaz for the 2-1 lead. The half ended with the U.S. hunting for the equalizer, which never materialized.
EARLY EQUILIZER
Three minutes into the second half, the U.S equalized on Sebastian Berhalter’s sizzing drive into the back of the net after Turkiye failed to clear Weston McKennie’s throw-in. The goal energized the crowd, and eight minutes later, the crowd went from energized to frenzied when Christian Pulisic entered the game in the 58th minute for Timothy Weah. Pulisic brought speed, creativity, and guile to the U.S attack.
BENCH FIREPOWER
In addition to Pulisic, Pochettino inserted Segino Dest for Reyna, Alex Freeman for Joe Scally, and Alejandro Zendejas for Brenden Aaronson in the 77th minute. The additions galvanized the crowd, and the U.S. attack went nuclear with swift passing, runs into channels, and shots that Turkiye goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir could not beat. The visitor broke the heart of the home crowd when they scored the game-winner in the 8th minute of stoppage time to salvage their lone win of the tournament.
POST GAME NOTES
Additional Notes:
- With the two goals on the night, the USMNT has set an all-time record for most goals scored in a single World Cup at eight.
- In his first World Cup start, Auston Trusty scored the second fastest goal in USMNT history, scoring just 134 seconds into the match, just behind Clint Dempsey’s 30-second goal against Ghana in 2014.
- The goal was also the first of Trusty’s international career.
- Trusty’s goal against Türkiye marks the first time the USMNT has had multiple defenders score in a World Cup along withAlex Freeman’s header against Australia.
- In this World Cup, the USMNT has scored three goals in the first 15 minutes of the first half, something that no other team has done at this year’s tournament.
- Sebastian Berhalter scored the second international goal of his career and first at the FIFA World Cup in his first start.
- Berhalter is the first USMNT player to record both a goal and an assist in a FIFA World Cup match on record since 1966.
- Mark McKenzie, Miles Robinson, and Alex Zendejas made their FIFA World Cup debuts.
- Cristian Roldan was unavailable due to injury.
– U.S. MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT –
Match: United States Men’s National Team vs. Türkiye
Date: June 25, 2026
Competition: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group Stage – Group D
Venue: Los Angeles Stadium; Inglewood, Calif.
Attendance: 70,492
Kickoff: 7 p.m. PT
Weather: 72 degrees, partly sunny
| Scoring Summary | 1 | 2 | F |
| USA | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| TUR | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| USA – Auston Trusty (Sebastian Berhalter) | 3rd minute |
| TUR – Arda Güler (Barış Alper Yılmaz) | 10 |
| TUR – Orkun Kökçü (Eren Elmalı) | 31 |
| USA – Sebastian Berhalter | 49 |
| TUR – Kaan Ayhan | 90+8 |
Lineups:
USA: 1-Matt Turner; 23-Joe Scally (16-Alex Freeman, 77), 12-Miles Robinson, 22-Mark McKenzie, 6-Auston Trusty; 14-Sebastian Berhalter, 8-Weston McKennie (Capt.) (17-Malik Tillman), 7-Gio Reyna (2-Sergiño Dest, 76), 11-Brenden Aaronson(26-Alex Zendejas, 77), 9-Ricardo Pepi, 21-Tim Weah (10-Christian Pulisic, 58)
Substitutes not used: 24-Matt Freese, 25-Chris Brady, 3-Chris Richards, 4-Tyler Adams, 5-Antonee Robinson, 13-Tim Ream, 18-Max Arfsten, 19-Haji Wright, 20-Folarin Balogun
Head Coach: Mauricio Pochettino
TUR: 23-Uğurcan Çakır; 2-Zeki Çelik (Capt.) (4-Çaglar Söyüncü, 84),15-Ozan Kabak, 14-Abdülkerim Bardakçı,13-Eren Elmalı; 5-Salih Özcan, 6-Orkun Kökçü (22-Kaan Ayhan, 88), 24-Oğuz Aydın (18-Mert Müldür), 8-Arda Güler, 11-Kenan Yıldız(26-Can Uzun, 84), 21-Barış Alper Yılmaz (17-İrfan Can Kahveci, 90)
Substitutes not used: 1- Mert Günok, 12-Altay Bayındır; 3-Merih Demiral, 7-Kerem Aktürkoğlu, 9-Deniz Gül, 10-Hakan Çalhanoğlu, 16-İsmail Yüksek, 19-Yunus Akgün, 20-Ferdi Kadıoğlu, 25-Samet Akaydın
Head Coach: Vincenzo Montella
Stats Summary: USA / TUR
Shots: 18 / 9
Shots on Goal: 7 / 3
Saves: 0 / 5
Corner Kicks: 9 / 2
Fouls: 13 / 13
Offsides: 5 / 2
Misconduct Summary
| USA — Sebastian Berhalter(Caution) | 19th minute |
Officials:
Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (ALG)
Assistant 1: Mokrane Gourari (ALG)
Assistant 2: Abbes Akram Zerhouni (ALG)
Fourth Official: Omar Alali (UAE)
VAR 1: Antonio Garcia (URU)
VAR 2: Mahmoud Ashour (EGY)
VAR 3: Juan Lara (CHI)
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