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The United States men's national team has finished the group stage at the 2026 World Cup with a loss against Turkey.
Having already clinched first place in Group D, the U.S. will play Bosnia and Herzegovina next in the round of 32 on Wednesday, July 1 at Levi’s Stadium in California.
And having already been eliminated before tonight, Turkey’s disappointing World Cup ends with a morale-boosting victory thanks to Kaan Ayhan's winning goal deep into second-half stoppage time. Auston Trusty and Sebastian Berhalter scored for the USMNT.
Christian Pulisic entered the game in the 58th minute, returning after missing the last U.S. game due to a calf injury.
Next up, it is the penultimate day of the World Cup group phase. Groups G, H and I come to a conclusion on Friday, with a reminder that the final two games in each group are scheduled to kick off simultaneously.
Here is the full schedule.
Group I — kickoff: 3pm ET
Group H — kickoff: 8pm ET
Group G — kickoff: 11pm ET
France and Norway have both officially qualified for the round of 32, but none of the group winners have been decided and everything else us up for grabs. It should be a fantastic day!
I enjoyed Laurie’s point about Mauricio Pochettino. And I have to agree with him — that kind of tone was bizarre from the USMNT manager.
Why so touchy?! Does he really need external validation from the media? Surely he and his coaching staff and his players can be quietly satisfied with their performances and their result?
Evidently not.
What might have gone under the radar a little is the U.S. only received one yellow card today, for midfielder Sebastian Berhalter.
Yes, it was for a clumsy tackle which could maybe have been given a red card. But all the players to have received a yellow card during the group stage, will now have that booking scratched from their record.
It means a player would have to be booked twice in separate games before the semifinals, to serve a one-game suspension. Or of course, be sent off.
Defender Chris Richards, midfielder Tyler Adams and striker Folarin Balogun are arguably three of the team’s best players and a crucial part of the U.S. spine, with left-back Antonee Robinson an important cog too.
So, sure, the U.S. could have used them today. But the risk of one or more of them playing in a dead rubber and being booked — and then suspended for the Bosnia game — was not worth it.
A loss today will disappoint. Having one of those four key players suspended would have been more disappointing.
We are starting to get a picture of what the round of 32 and the World Cup bracket entering knockout play is going to look like.
Here are the matchups that are confirmed:
Also definitely through are Ivory Coast, Mexico, Germany, Argentina, Australia and Switzerland.
The bracket is viewable in full right here.
Mauricio Pochettino is then asked if Donald Trump has been in touch. He looks nonplussed:
💬 “Sorry? Now?”
He is asked whether he expects a call:
💬 “No. No expectations in any way.”
Mauricio Pochettino was very irritable in his news conference just now. Seems he wanted someone to say well done for qualifying.
Literally. Feels a bit like Yaya Toure wanting a birthday cake from Manchester City.
Asked if the there is any risk that this defeat impacts the U.S. mood, Pochettino says:
💬 “I don’t understand the momentum. Too many topics in football I don’t understand. The objective was to finish first, and we finished first. I spoke with Turkish TV just now, they go home. Maybe I am confused, but the vibe in here is like we go home tonight and Turkey stay.
“I am happy. Maybe I am not showing because you’re questions are a little bit weird. At the moment no one congratulated us to finish first in a very difficult group. Tonight made me think very positively.
“It cannot be that Turkey celebrate winning, Australia celebrate qualifying, Paraguay celebrate qualifying, and for us to come here and nobody say congratulations. It’s a little sad. I need to remind you and everyone that we won the group. Sorry guys, we won.”
A quiet night for Folarin Balogun then.
The striker with two goals from the first two matches was still hoping to get the chance to add to his tally tonight, in pursuit of the Golden Boot.
But then, given Lionel Messi was already on five goals after two games, maybe getting some rest was the better option.
After all, it’s the team dynamic that’s crucial for the USMNT right now.
Supporters also made their feelings clear on the constant cutaways to celebrities in the stands during the match.
Eric N: “I’m so happy Brad Pitt and the other A-listers have been able to get tickets. They give so much and ask for so little.”
Connor H: “Why is there a soccer game in the middle of my celebrity watching?”
And Brennan M: “Fox clearly doesn’t understand how little people care about celebrities in the stands. A 65-year-old Scottie Pippen?! No one cares!”
Fans have been dropping into The Athletic’s discussion tab at the top of the page and clickable here — more than 1,200 comments so far! And many fans have been taking positives despite the defeat.
Lucas S: “The U.S. played an amazing second half, and given they had nine changes to the starting XI, I feel like a loss at the last second doesn’t change the momentum we showed in the second half.”
Zoltan G: “Everybody wins. Turkey gets diet-points, Pulisic tests the calf, whoop-dee-doo, bring on Bosnia, AND Herzegovina too, the more the merrier.”
And JP joked about one of the many World Cup adverts involving a USMNT player: “Bad result but Pulisic is still getting 2% back on every purchase with his Wells Fargo card so they’ve got that going for them.”
You can join the conversation too at the above link, or via email: live@theathletic.com
And here is a further example of how this game ebbed and flowed, based on the chances created by both teams.
That spike just after 60 minutes in the U.S. plot? That comes moments after Christian Pulisic was introduced.
It will be good for Mauricio Pochettino to have him back in the starting lineup for the round of 32, assuming he came through tonight fine.
A proper back and forth in Los Angeles, the momentum graphic shows up well how that Turkey equalizer came against the run of play and ultimately set up its win.
The U.S. will be forgiven quickly for its late lapse providing there is no hangover when facing Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, if there is then things could get a little nervy.
Sweden, Ecuador and Bosnia are the three teams to finish third in their group and be guaranteed as spot along the 24 teams automatically qualifying from the 12 World Cup groups by finishing in the top two.
Paraguay’s record means it should also make it, while things are already looking difficult for South Korea and especially Scotland.
Six groups decided, six more to come in the next 48 hours.
So it is confirmed. The USMNT will face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday night at Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara. Kickoff will be 8pm ET so 5pm local.
Bosnia finished third in Group B behind winners Switzerland and second-placed Canada, who drew its opening game with Bosnia 1-1.
That is in the round of 32, with a spot in the last 16 on the line. Extra time and penalties will decide the outcome if it’s still level after 90 minutes.
After two excruciating defeats and just one day after defending the same starting XI that failed against Australia and Paraguay in his news conference, Turkey head coach Vincenzo Montella finally embraced change.
The result was a team with more pace, more balance and more of the qualities both Turkish and American fans expected to see throughout the tournament.
Defensively, the return of Roma fullback Zeki Celik and Hoffenheim center back Ozan Kabak immediately stabilized the back line. Together they handled the U.S. attack far more effectively than the Merih Demiral–Mert Muldur pairing in Turkey’s opening two matches.
In midfield, Arda Guler was finally handed the keys. With Hakan Calhanoglu on the bench, the 21-year-old Real Madrid midfielder looked more free and assertive, orchestrating Turkey’s attack before scoring his first World Cup goal to level the match.
Whether the team’s deference to its veteran captain had constrained Guler in the first two games is impossible to know, but the youngster looked far more comfortable as the focal point of the attack.
Fenerbahce winger Oguz Aydin also injected the speed Turkey had been missing all tournament. His direct running stretched the U.S. defense and helped transform possession into genuine scoring chances rather than speculative shots.
Was Calhanoglu the problem? That is tough to say. What is clear is the lineup Montella finally trusted in a match that no longer mattered looked far closer to the team many believed Turkey should have fielded from the start.
By that point however, the damage had already been done with the team’s fate decided two games into a disappointing World Cup.
Mauricio Pochettino’s decision to fully rotate was always going to be most glaring on the back line, where the U.S. depth has been an issue throughout this World Cup cycle.
The shakiness of those options was on display in the first half.
On Turkey’s opening goal, center back Mark McKenzie tried to jump an Arda Guler pass but Guler neatly read the defender and kept his run going forward, leaving McKenzie in the dust. Baris Alper Yilmaz took the ball off Guler’s foot as Miles Robinson chased, and Guler ran past McKenzie and into the box for an easy finish off Yilmaz’s service.
Weston McKennie lost an aerial duel in midfield, and the ball was played out to the left to Kenan Yildiz. Joe Scally backed off the Juventus winger, giving him space and respect, and Yildiz split a recovering McKennie and Brenden Aaronson to find Guler. The Real Madrid star then fed Yildiz, who continued a back-door run that left a ball-watching Scally behind, and Yildiz’s cross was finished neatly by Orkun Kokcu.
For a U.S. team that hadn’t been challenged much through the first two games, it was a bit worrisome to see the back line so easily gashed in those moments — and it reinforced the importance of the players who started the first two games.
Turkey head coach Vincenzo Montella on his selection and feelings at the final whistle — and you can tell why they didn’t play like it was a dead rubber:
💬 “All players perfectly able to play, all choices tactical, last week way too difficult, a lot of boys in squad who had to spend a lot of mental energy because of all that has been going on.
“I got very emotional towards the end of the game, all the things I spoke about before the match, tonight’s game matters more than 1,000 victories.”
Feast your eyes on the shot map from tonight’s game.
Turkey might have only had nine shots but they had more xG than the U.S. and made those shots pay.
It was a very positive group stage for the U.S. but the defense still looks like the weak part of the team, as expected by many prior to the tournament.
Weston McKennie has also spoken to Fox from the mixed zone — and he sounds sure the USMNT momentum will survive this loss and carry on into San Francisco for a meeting with Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32:
💬 “The momentum will be there, for sure. Everybody wants to go into the next game winning the previous game but … that’s gonna motivate us even more to prove the first two games weren’t just coincidence. The vibes will still be there with the team and we’ll look forward to (it).”
And again, another teammate sings the impact of Christian Pulisic. There is no hiding who these guys are looking for on the pitch. McKennie added:
💬 “He’s a special player. He adds his one-on-one qualities. Whenever the game might look dry, he can come in and be that player to create something out of thin air. So it was good to see him back on the pitch and hopefully see him again in San Francisco.”
Brenden Aaronson has also been speaking about the loss:
💬 “It was still a fantastic group stage. … We’re at a top level. I’m not worried whatsoever.”
Team Stats
TUR
USA
Game Details