USMNT Finishes Top of Group D Despite Loss to Turkey

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The last question had barely landed before Mauricio Pochettino was on his feet.

“I need to remind everyone we won the group, sorry guys, we won,” he snapped, pushed back his chair and walked out of the room.

No handshake. No soft landing. Just a cold exit to match the chill in his tone.

This was not the mood anyone expected after the U.S. men’s national team finished top of Group D. A 3-2 defeat to Turkey at SoFi Stadium — sealed with the last kick of the game in the eighth minute of stoppage time — turned what should have been a night of quiet satisfaction into a tense, combative debrief.

Top of the group, bottom of the mood

The key fact hadn’t changed: the USMNT were already guaranteed first place after two games. This was, on paper, a dead rubber. Pochettino treated it like one in his team selection, rotating heavily and protecting his stars and his suspensions.

The room, though, had other ideas. Questions circled around momentum, performance levels, and whether a late collapse had dented the optimism built against Paraguay and Australia.

Pochettino bristled.

“It cannot be possible that Turkey celebrates three points, Australia celebrates getting through, Paraguay celebrates getting through… for you to not say congratulations for winning the group, it’s a little bit sad,” he said, staring back at the assembled media.

“I’m happy, maybe I’m not showing because your questions are a little bit weird. But I’m happy, the players are happy because we are first. I’m confused, maybe the vibes are like we go home tonight and Turkey stays (in the World Cup), no?”

The result on the night said one thing. The standings said another. Pochettino was determined the latter would frame the story.

Rotation, risk, and a late sting

His lineup underlined his priorities. Ricardo Pepi and Weston McKennie were the only holdovers from the win over Australia. Tyler Adams, Folarin Balogun, Chris Richards and Antonee Robinson — all one yellow card from suspension — never got off the bench. This was a calculated gamble: rhythm sacrificed for freshness and availability in the round of 32.

“Explain what you mean in momentum — I don’t understand,” Pochettino said when pushed on whether the loss might blunt the team’s edge. “To play with the same team we played against Australia to take a risk? To receive a yellow card (suspension)? To risk players who maybe have problems? I don’t understand. Germany lost momentum too and they played with (mostly) the same team (in their loss to Ecuador on Thursday).”

On the field, the reshuffled side swung between encouraging and careless.

Auston Trusty struck first, giving the U.S. an early lead and a platform. Turkey responded, grew into the game and, powered by a man-of-the-match display from Arda Guler, turned the contest into a chaotic, open fight. Guler scored, probed, and pulled strings in the final third, dictating his team’s best attacking spells.

Sebastian Berhalter dragged the U.S. level early in the second half after Turkey had taken the lead, a composed finish that briefly reset the mood. At that stage, with top spot already secure, a draw looked like a tidy compromise: minutes for the squad, no damage done.

Then came stoppage time. Then came the twist.

With the clock deep into the eighth added minute, Turkey snatched the winner with the last kick of the game. The U.S. switched off, Turkey didn’t. The price was a first defeat of the tournament and a fresh line of questioning Pochettino clearly had no patience for.

Pulisic back, and dangerous

Amid the noise, one development mattered more than the scoreline: Christian Pulisic’s return.

The U.S. star, who had exited at halftime against Paraguay with a calf issue, stepped onto the field in the 58th minute, replacing Tim Weah on the left wing. From the moment he arrived, the tone of the American attack changed. He moved freely, demanded the ball, drove at defenders. He looked like himself.

“The objective was not just to win, but to get Christian 30-40 minutes,” Pochettino said. “He finished well and he made an impact on the pitch.”

There was one blemish. Pulisic was nutmegged by Guler in the buildup to Turkey’s dramatic winner, a small humiliation in a duel the Turkish playmaker largely owned. But the broader takeaway for the U.S. was reassuring: their most dangerous attacker came through his test, unrestrained and influential.

With yellow cards wiped after the group stage, Pulisic healthy, and Adams, Balogun, Richards and Robinson all clean and available, Pochettino left Inglewood with the squad he wanted for the knockout rounds — even if he didn’t leave with the performance he craved.

History, context, and a manager on edge

Strip away the late goal and the grumbling, and the numbers tell a story Pochettino clearly felt was being ignored. Six points from three games mark the U.S.’s best group-stage haul in World Cup history, matching the 1930 team in raw results but surpassing it in the modern three-points-for-a-win era.

“No one congratulated us for finishing first in a very difficult group,” he said in another pointed exchange. “I congratulate the players, staff and fans. Now I’ll answer your question. You always learn when you are in a World Cup.”

That edge, that defensiveness, said as much about the stakes as any tactical tweak. Pochettino knows the tournament starts for real now. The luxury of rotation is gone. So are the safety nets.

Earlier in the day, the bracket had already taken shape: Bosnia and Herzegovina await in the round of 32, a knockout tie set for Santa Clara next Wednesday. It is the kind of matchup that will not tolerate lapses like the one that undid the U.S. at SoFi.

“We’re a much better team now than we were before,” Pochettino said. “That will be put to the test next game.”

Top of the group, bruised by a late punch, and carrying a manager who has drawn his battle lines with the critics. The margin for error just shrank. Now we find out if the defiance on the microphone is matched by composure on the pitch.