Inglewood, Calif. – If nothing else, it’s clear Mauricio Pochettino has been playing the right starting lineup. On Thursday night, the United States and Türkiye met on the final matchday of Group D at the World Cup. With the match being a dead rubber, the USMNT reserves got a run out. It was a mixed bag.
Weston McKennie captained the side and Tim Weah was in attack. Other than that, everyone else was rotated. None of the four players who were on a yellow card played. Christian Pulisic was on the bench. Five players got their first minutes of the competition. Former Rapids center back Auston Trusty started after subbing in against Australia.
On paper, neither team had anything to play for. The United States had won the group with wins in their first two matches. Türkiye was already confirmed to finish last in the group with two losses. There was pride to play for. For the USMNT player, players were auditioning to get more minutes in the knockout stage. Sebastian Berhalter, who’s out of contract this year, could have been looking to impress clubs in Europe.
The Yanks got off to a quick start again. Just three minutes in, Trusty was wide open on the back post on a corner for a tap in. It was his first goal for the Nats. The U.S. continued to hold the ball and swarm the other side. The Crescent-Stars, however, took the lead shortly after the hydration break.
In the 10th minute, the back three got pulled apart with Mark McKenzie chasing Arda Güler. The Real Madrid player. Then in the 31st, a cataclysm of little mistakes by McKenzie, Joe Scally, and Miles Robinson led to another big chance that was put away. Orkun Kökcü assisted Barış Alper Yılmaz.
The half ended 2-1.
Berhalter restored parity in the 49th minute, making it 2-2. He cleaned up a loose ball after a long throw in was put into the box. It was a back-and-forth game right to the finish.
Pulisic subbed on in the 58th minute. He went a little hero ball, but looked himself. He could have scored or assisted Ricardo Pepi in his first minutes on the pitch. He elected to shoot and it was saved. Pulisic would hit the post on an awkward shot minutes after that. Then he had a curler that was wide of the far post. On another day, he has a hat trick in the 78th.
Then in the 8th minute of stoppage time, another ball-watching mess up, left Can Uzun available at the back post. His cross nutmegged Matt Turner for Kaan Ayhan to score. It was the last kick of the game. The final score was 3-2.
Auston Trusty scores, gets hurt, walks it off:
A former Colorado Rapid has scored at the World Cup. Off the top of my head, that hasn’t happened before. Trusty looked like himself in the game. He had familiarity with former Philadelphia Union teammate. He was less at fault than the other goals. He had a leg injury that looked bad but he was able resume play.
“I’ll be alright. I hurt a little something but I’ll be fine,” he said postgame on the broadcast.
Depth defensive issues as Türkiye finally scores:
Yeah, the defense wasn’t great. But to quote Colin Cowherd (a Burgundy Wave first), this was a Week 17 game in which the USMNT had already clinched the division. They played the bench and lost on a walk off field goal. Poch’s lineup decisions in the first two games was validated.
“We had a lot of opportunities during gate game. I think they had three shots for three goals. Just unfortunately lost. But we keep going,” said Trusty.
“”Put this behind us. Learn from it. Obviously we had a lot of chances. We go too keep the ball out of the net. Just react to it, then move on.”
This group has trained together but hasn’t had much game time. Türkiye finally converted their chances. This is a good film study for them to clean things up for the Round of 32. Weston McKennie defended his teammates postgame:
“I’ve said it so many times, all 26 players that we have on the roster can step up and do the job. Türkiye was just very clinical today.”
Pulisic and Loss of momentum vs rest for the Round of 32:
The narrative around this game will likely be retconned depending on the result in the next game. If the starters come out rusty, people will say Poch gets it wrong. If they advance, regardless of the performance, no-one will remember this game in the narrative around the USMNT in 2026 World Cup.
If nothing else, Pulisic got a runout and looked good. With a better lineup, he probably plays more with a Flo Balogun, Malik Tillman, etc.
It was good to see him back on the pitching hopefully we see him again in San Francisco. The USMNT will play Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday, July 1 at San Francisco Stadium. Kickoff is 6:00 p.m. Mountain Time.
Read More: Former Rapid Auston Trusty Scores, Turkiye Win Late- USMNT vs Turkiye Photo Gallery
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Spencer Baldwin 
Eamon Shaw 