The United States men’s national team ended 2025 on high and some confidence towards their World Cup preparations as they walloped Uruguay in a win on Tuesday night at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
After their 2-1 win over Paraguay last Saturday, the team entered the contest against the two-time World Cup champion with a chance to extend their unbeaten run to five games.
Head coach Mauricio Pochettino made more personnel changes in his 3-4-2-1 formation, with the likes of Alex Freeman, Mark McKenzie, and Auston Trusty in the backline, Sebastian Berhalter, Aidan Morris, and John Tolkin in the midfield to team up with Sergino Dest. Diego Luna, Timothy Tillma, and Haji Wright formed the attack for the U.S.
The Americans jumped out to a 1-0 lead after 17 minutes when Berhalter linked up with Dest to deliver a curling shot to the left-hand side of the goal manned by Uruguayan goalkeeper Cristopher Fiermarin. Freeman doubled the team’s lead three minutes later as he headed din Berhalter’s corner kick.
The defender scored his second on the night in the 31st minute when Auston Trusty played the ball to him into the left side of the 18-yard box, leaving him a chance to blast the ball past Fiermarin.
The U.S. added a fourth in the 42nd minute as play from the back saw the ball end up with John Tolkin. The fullback then crossed it to Timothy Tillman, who then layed it on to Diego Luna’s late run to fire a shot into the back of the net.
Momentum was certainly in favor of the hosts, but Uruguay cut the deficit in first-half stoppage time when Giorgian de Arrascaeta’s overhead kick into the goal sent roars throughout the stadium.
La Celeste tried everything they could to add more to their in the second half, but that was thwarted in the 64th minute when the referee showed a red card to midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur for a rought tackle on Berhalter.
The U.S. took advantage of being a man up and scored their fifth goal of the game in the 68th minute. Gio Reyna’s ball into the area connected with Tanner Tessman as he was able to head it past Fiermarin.
With the friendlies out of the way, it will now come to Thursday when the U.S. discover their opponents in the World Cup group stage.
