INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The U.S. men’s soccer team only wanted to get through its final World Cup Group D match Thursday night without an injury or a red card, while Turkey was playing for a face-saving victory to end a dismal stay at the 48-team tournament.
Both teams got what they wanted most out of their meaningless meeting before the U.S. advances to the knockout stage — and coach Mauricio Pochettino was annoyed by any suggestion that the Americans’ last-gasp, 3-2 defeat said anything negative about the state of his team.
Kaan Ayhan scored on the final kick of the match to send Turkey past the U.S. in the eighth minute of stoppage time for its only win of the 2026 World Cup.
The result was meaningless to the tournament co-hosts, who will meet Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32 on Wednesday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Pochettino sent out nine new starters against Turkey, including eight who were starting a World Cup match for the first time.
The U.S. tied it early in the second half on a goal by Sebastian Berhalter, and the Americans got within a few seconds of an unbeaten run through the group stage. But in his postgame news conference, Pochettino expressed his annoyance with what he perceived as disappointment in the result.
“For you not say congratulations that we won the group, that is a little bit sad,” Pochettino told reporters.
“What we need to remember is we won first place in this group,” the 54-year-old from Argentina added while speaking in Spanish and English. “We ended up being No. 1, and we managed all the pressure and the expectations quite well. We had other priorities.
“We wanted to win. We did want the victory, but there are other things we needed to balance out, and that’s how I made the decisions. … Making history is winning the World Cup, not just winning the group. It’s a little bit petty, if you will. You’re thinking just a little bit too small.”
Auston Trusty scored in the third minute for the Americans, who beat Paraguay and Australia by a combined score 6-1 to book their place in the next phase of the tournament they’re co-hosting with Canada, which went 2-1 to finish second in Group B, and Mexico, which went 3-0 without allowing a goal to win Group A.
Pochettino fielded nearly an entirely new lineup for this low-stakes game, notably resting all four key players who picked up yellow cards earlier in the tournament.
Christian Pulisic entered in the 58th minute, however. The key midfielder hadn’t played since the first half of the Americans’ opener due to a calf injury, and he was involved in a couple of early scoring chances before getting beaten on the wing on Turkey’s winning goal.
“We could have done better on some defensive plays, but it happens,” said Brenden Aaronson, one of nine new starters chosen by Pochettino for the group finale.
“You make (nine) changes, and the team might not be used to as the guys that have been playing,” Aaronson added. “It showed the hustle, the aggressiveness of the team. I think it’s a positive, because Turkey is a top team. They might have not performed their best throughout this tournament, but their quality is on the pitch and you can see it.”
Berhalter said he doesn’t believe the Americans lost any momentum from this close defeat.
“You saw the second half, how we came out,” said Berhalter, who tied it in the 49th minute by running on to a loose ball about 20 yards out for a vicious strike. “I think we deserved more out of that game. We slipped in the last second of the game. … We gave everything we had, and we’ll be ready for the knockouts. The guys did well. We fought. Unfortunate not to get a result, but we’ll be ready for sure.”
Arda Guler and Orkun Kokcu scored in the first half of a resilient performance by Turkey, which had already been eliminated after losing its first two matches by shutout despite largely dominating both statistically.
Turkey improbably won in the eighth minute of stoppage time when Can Uzun got the ball in space on the back post and pushed it past sprawling goalkeeper Matt Turner to Ayhan, who slid to knock it home.
“I’m super happy with how my players played tonight,” Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella said through an interpreter. “They showcased all of their skills, all of their abilities, all of their character. Playing the way they played tonight in an away match, against a very loud crowd, if they weren’t as strong as they are, they wouldn’t have made it tonight.
“I’m really happy for the Turkish people. I can say that we can go back home with our chin up.”
Indeed, the game’s meaninglessness didn’t matter to the raucous sellout crowd that packed SoFi Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers and Rams. The U.S. men’s soccer team’s fan base has been energized by its strong start to this home World Cup, and the crowd was still chanting and standing when Berhalter airmailed a long corner to Trusty, who made the stadium shake when he banged it home inside the back post.
Trusty’s goal was the Americans’ seventh of the tournament, tying their scoring record for any World Cup before knockout play even begins. It was also the 173rd goal of this tournament, breaking the record for the most combined goals scored in a World Cup set in Qatar four years ago — and doing it in four fewer matches.