The United States men’s national team started brightly and fought back to level the score, but fell as Turkiye scored the last kick of the game to seal a win at Los Angeles Stadium on Thursday to round out competition in Group D of the World Cup.
Having secured passage to the knockout stage, head coach Mauricio Pochettino had decisions to consider before taking the field. He did so by making nine personnel changes, resting Tyler Adams, Folarin Balogun, Chris Richards, and Antonee Robinson to avoid potential yellow card suspensions. He also kept Christian Pulisic on the bench as he was recovering from a calf injury.
The Americans started the game with the upper hand, just like the previous games, as they scored three minutes into the contest. Sebastian Berhalter’s corner kick from the left side found Auston Trusty, who brought the ball down and fired his left-footed shot past Turkish goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakır.
Turkiye responded seven minutes later to level the score with the two-man teamwork between Baris Alper Yilmaz and Arda Guler, allowing the 21-year-old to beat Matt Turner. Orkun Kökçü doubled their lead in the 31st minute when Guler supplied a low cross from the left side.
The U.S. was on the hunt to even things up in the second half, and they did it immediately in the 49th minute through another set piece. Mark McKenzie’s long throw-in into the 18-yard box was poorly cleared by Turkiye, allowing Sebastian Berhalter to fire a shot from the edge of the area and into the goal.
With the tournament co-host taking some advantage, Pochettino decided to put in Pulisic in an effort for more goals. They tried to find a way to retake the lead, but the final goal would not go in.
It looked like the game would be headed towards a draw, but Turkiye had the last word within the final seconds of stoppage time when Can Uzun was able to get the ball past Turner for Kaan Ayhan to slide it into the goal.
It was a tough loss for the Americans, but with group play over, they must now focus on the round of 32 game against Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1 in Santa Clara, California.