Pochettino's Gamble Fails as U.S. Falls to Turkey 3-2
Mauricio Pochettino has spent 18 months ripping up the manual with the U.S. national team. On Thursday night, the risk finally bit back.
With qualification already sealed and first place in the group within reach, he spun the roulette wheel one more time, made nine changes, and watched a heavily rotated U.S. side fall 3-2 to Turkey on a gut-punch of a goal deep into stoppage time from Kaan Ayhan.
Unbeaten no more. Momentum questioned. Belief, Pochettino insists, untouched.
Rotation, records – and a late sting
This was Pochettino at full experimental tilt. He emptied the bench for the group finale, handing starts to fresh legs and minutes to almost everyone. By the 76th minute, when Alejandro Zendejas came on, the U.S. had used 23 different players in this World Cup — a new national record. Over three games, 21 of them have started. No American coach has ever shuffled his pack this aggressively between World Cup matches.
For a while, it looked like another masterstroke.
Barely three minutes had ticked by when Auston Trusty, one of the surprise inclusions, smashed the U.S. into the lead. Sebastian Berhalter, also making his first World Cup start, whipped a long, teasing corner across the face of goal. Trusty killed it with his first touch and, from the far edge of the six-yard box, drilled a left-footed shot between Ugurcan Cakir and the near post.
Second-fastest goal in U.S. World Cup history. Pochettino’s gamble, on early evidence, was paying off again.
Then the game turned.
Turkey, already eliminated and playing its first World Cup since 2002, had nothing to protect and plenty to vent. They played on the edge from the opening whistle and, once behind, sharpened the tackles and the tempo.
In the 10th minute, Arda Guler ghosted away from Mark McKenzie, timing his run perfectly to meet a pass from Kenan Yildiz at the penalty spot. One touch, one lifted left-footed finish over Matt Turner. One shot faced, one goal conceded. For the first time this tournament, the U.S. had surrendered a lead.
The second Turkish attack of note brought the second Turkish goal. On 31 minutes, Eren Elmali drove in a low ball from the left. Orkun Kokcu arrived at the edge of the six-yard box and simply redirected it past Turner. Just like that, the U.S. trailed in a World Cup match for the first time.
Berhalter steps up, Pulisic returns
The response after the break was immediate and assured. Four minutes into the second half, another dead ball situation bailed the U.S. out.
A loose clearance from a set piece skidded out to the top of the area, where Berhalter, ever alert, waited in space. He stayed composed, shaped his body, and skipped a right-footed shot just inside the near post. Calm technique, clean strike, 2-2.
“The ball just popped out and I knew if I just stayed calm and just made a swing motion, that I had a chance,” he said. “You practice those a lot and to see that go in was awesome.”
A goal and an assist in his first World Cup start. On a night of rotation, Berhalter looked like he belonged.
Then came the moment U.S. fans had been waiting for. On 59 minutes, Christian Pulisic stepped off the bench, his left calf finally deemed ready after he’d been limited to just the opening half of the first game.
Instantly, the tempo on the left flank changed. Pulisic drove at defenders, cut inside, and carved out three dangerous chances in quick succession. The crowd rose with every touch. Turkey backpedaled.
The ball, though, refused to cooperate. Half-chances went begging. Crosses flashed across the box with no finishing touch. The pressure built but never broke the door down.
And the punishment for that waste arrived with cruel timing.
Ayhan’s dagger and a test of belief
Deep into stoppage time, with the U.S. seemingly content to take the point and the unbeaten tag into the knockouts, chaos erupted in front of Turner’s goal. A scramble, bodies everywhere, and there was Kaan Ayhan, somehow finding room despite three U.S. defenders closing in, stabbing the ball home with what proved to be Turkey’s last touch of the tournament.
3-2. Game over. Group stage perfection gone in an instant.
“You can always take these things as fuel, having that moment in the last one where they score,” Brenden Aaronson said. “It’s tough. We wanted to walk away with no losses in the group stage. But it was still a fantastic group stage.
“Not worried whatsoever. We’re going to move on to the next one and be ready to go for Bosnia.”
Turkey, already out after losing its first two games, played like a team determined to leave a mark on someone. They were chippy, confrontational, and relentless, and they took out their frustration on a rotated U.S. side that never quite found the control it had shown against Paraguay and Australia.
Pochettino doubles down
From the outside, the obvious question hangs in the air: did Pochettino push his disdain for convention too far?
He doesn’t see it that way.
“The objective was to finish first and we are first,” he said. “Now it is the next stage and it is going to be a final. And we are ready. We are much better than before that game because we had players now with 90 minutes in their legs and performing and really to help if we need from the beginning or after from the bench.
“It’s all positive. And I am so positive and I am happy.”
Berhalter echoed that optimism, pointing to the wider picture rather than the sting of the final score.
“We know everyone’s ready to step up at any moment,” he said. “I think you saw that today. We let some moments get away from us, but I thought the performances overall were good.
“It’s every little kid’s dream across the United States of America to play in a home World Cup, and just in a World Cup in general. People made their debuts today, so congratulations everyone. This is what everybody looks forward to.”
The facts are simple: the U.S. finish the group at 2-1-0, top of the standings, and now head to Santa Clara for a round-of-32 clash with Bosnia and Herzegovina, the third-place finisher from Group B, on Wednesday.
They go there bruised but not broken, with a full squad battle-tested, 23 players blooded, and a coach who refuses to flinch.
The unbeaten record has gone. The real question now is whether the edge sharpened by this defeat becomes the weapon that carries them deeper into the World Cup than anyone has managed before.
