Going solely off paper, the U.S. men’s national team has the talent to defeat Bosnia and Herzegovina and advance to the FIFA World Cup’s Round of 16. Oddsmakers all over have the United States winning and have even built parlays around the notion.
When the U.S., No. 15 in FIFA world rankings, plays No. 61 Bosnia in San Francisco on Wednesday (8 p.m., Fox29), it will be the U.S. seeking its first win in the knockout stages since 2002. During the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022, the USMNT lost 3-1 to Netherlands in the round of 16.
This is Bosnia’s first knockout-round appearance and just the second time qualifying for the tournament since its debut at the 2014 edition in Brazil.
This feels ripe for the taking. But again, this World Cup might go down as one of the most shocking in recent memory with teams in the knockout stage in their first-ever World Cup (see Cape Verde) and some even needed a playoff game to even make the tournament (see Democratic Republic of Congo). To equate this to casual American fans, this is March Madness, this is Florida Gulf Coast’s Sweet 16 run circa 2013, or tiny Fairleigh Dickinson knocking off No. 1 Purdue in 2023.
It’s been a must-watch because the underdogs are bringing it. What does that mean for the United States, a team that showed dominance through the group stage but is coming off an eye-opening loss to Turkey entering the knockout phase?
Did that loss recenter these players, and they’re ready to show what they learned against a Bosnia team happy to still be in the fight? Or will there be a World Cup-ending theater late on Wednesday night?
Our team of writers take a look at the matchup and the tournament at large to offer where they think this one will end up.
I know it will shock all of you that I’m a cynic by nature, not just profession. The stakes for the U.S. losing this game are almost higher than for winning it, because everything the program has done for the last eight years — not just since 2022 — goes up in smoke if they go out now.
Meanwhile, Bosnia is on house money, and I can only imagine how many emotions will be in Esmir Bajraktarević’s mind as he plays against the nation he used to represent. But in the end, the U.S. has the better talent and should have another electric home crowd behind it in the Bay Area.
That’s good for one goal, and a first-choice starting lineup (even if the bench isn’t full) is worth another.
Prediction: United States 2, Bosnia and Herzegovina 0
Bosnia’s Esmir Bajraktarević (left) was in the U.S. youth system before committing to playing for Bosnia in the World Cup.Stephanie Scarbrough
How this plays out for me is largely determined by the lineup U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino puts out against a really big, physical Bosnia team that bullied its way to four points against Canada and Qatar after shaking off a 4-1 beat down to Switzerland in its second game of Group B.
There are guys who need to be on the field for the U.S. in the biggest moments. Chris Richards is one of them. Tyler Adams is another, and obviously, a healthy Christian Pulisic and locked-in Matt Freese make the difference.
Plus, moving to the next round on U.S. soil, on the West Coast, where the Americans have already found success, feels natural. Frankly, they should want it more. So if we’re talking about what’s at stake for the U.S. vs. what Bosnia stands to gain, it’s tough to see how this American contingent doesn’t take that into account, play the best 11 of the 26, and move on. But I’ll hedge that it won’t come easy.
Prediction: United States 1, Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 (U.S. wins 5-4 on penalty kicks)
Folarin Balogun (left) is all smiles during the U.S. national team’s practice at Great Park in Irvine, California, this week.Jonathan Tannenwald
Key American players like Adams, Folarin Balogun, and Tim Ream watched from the bench as the U.S. conceded a 98th-minute winner to Turkey in the USMNT’s group stage finale.
But since the Americans had already secured the group and a place in the knockout rounds, the worst the loss could do was produce a temporary sting. Now, a loss could end it all. The U.S. will need to follow up a strong group stage performance with its second-ever win in a knockout game at the World Cup.
A win in the expanded knockouts wouldn’t quite have the magnitude of the “dos a cero” round of 16 win over Mexico in 2002, but knockouts are knockouts.
The U.S. has played confidently at this World Cup, something it will need to continue to snap a 10-game losing streak against European sides. The Bosnians will be a tough test, but a well-rested American team should overcome its recent form against Europe.
Prediction: United States 2, Bosnia and Herzegovina 0
SAN JOSE, Calif. — No one needed the reminder at this point, but it came anyway.
While the U.S. men’s soccer team’s charter flight from Orange County to the Bay Area was in the air, a lightning bolt struck the World Cup when Paraguay toppled Germany.
Germany undoubtedly wasn’t good enough, and not for the first time in this tournament. There must have been kegs worth of angst in the air at Brauhaus Schmitz on South Street, Philadelphia’s most famous fussball destination, among fans who’d dreamed of seeing the four-time champions come to town on July 4.
But to lose to the same Paraguay squad that the U.S. ran off the field in their tournament opener? That was a shock and the latest of many lessons in this World Cup.
Yes, anyone can get a result against anyone else these days. Which means the 64th-ranked Bosnia and Herzegovina team the U.S. faces on Wednesday night has more than a chance against the cohosts, who return to the site of an infamous loss in the 2016 Copa América and a triumph in the Gold Cup final a year later.
There’s no taking any World Cup game for granted these days, especially when it’s a knockout contest. Nor can you take a moment off, as all three of Monday’s games proved. Before Paraguay-Germany, Japan gave up a 95th-minute winner to Brazil. Afterward, the Netherlands played a lot of ugly soccer, gave up a 90th-minute equalizer to Morocco, then lost on penalties.
“Hopefully we can get it done in regular time — the extra 30 minutes plus pens can get a little bit dangerous,” U.S. centerback Chris Richards said. “We saw the upset yesterday, so us going into this game, [it’s] making sure that we take care of business and go on.”
The point really should have been hammered home in the American camp by the last-kick-of-the-game loss to Turkey in the group stage finale. But if it was your youth soccer team, Little League baseball team, or CYO basketball team, wouldn’t you make one last nudge before the big game?
Chris Richards (center) on the ball during a drill at Tuesday’s practice.Jonathan Tannenwald
“It’s a World Cup. You’re never going to get the so-called favorite winning every single time,” said playmaker Christian Pulisic, who called himself “definitely ready” to start after coming off the bench against Turkey.
“This is soccer. This is the way things go: you can defend all game and win in a penalty kick shootout, and that’s the beauty of the game,” he continued. “So we have to be ready for whatever’s to come tomorrow. We don’t think it’s going to be easy by any means, so we have to put on a really high-level performance.”
If it feels like this point has been overstated this week, it’s because it ranks so much higher than everything else there is to say.
Sure, there’s a tactical analysis to write about how Richards will fare against 40-year-old Bosnian striker Edin Džeko, a veteran of big clubs including England’s Manchester City, Italy’s AS Roma and Inter Milan, and Germany’s Wolfsburg and Schalke. Or how young right winger Esmir Bajraktarević will fare against U.S. defender Antonee Robinson.
Esmir Bajraktarević celebrates one of Bosnia’s goals against Qatar in their group stage finale last Wednesday.Lindsey Wasson
He spent a season in the Chicago Fire’s youth academy (2019-20), then moved to the New England Revolution, where he turned pro and spent three seasons before a move to Dutch club PSV Eindhoven — and is now teammates with U.S. veterans Ricardo Pepi and Sergiño Dest and formerly Malik Tillman.
Along the way, Bajraktarević played for U.S. youth national teams at the under-19 and under-23 levels, and earned one cap for the senior U.S. squad in a January 2024 friendly. But because that wasn’t in an official competition, he could change nationality.
When Bosnia called a few months later, he made the switch, and debuted in the fall. A year and a half later, he scored the shootout penalty kick that qualified the Dragons for this World Cup with a playoff upset of Italy.
But if the U.S. team has its way, that story will become just a sidebar when the opening whistle blows. At that point, the motto will become one that’s well-known at the other end of San Francisco Bay from here, in Oakland: Just win, baby.
Even Tillman, who was born in Germany and has grown into understanding American sports, gets the point.
“Yeah, it’s true,” he said, when asked his opinion. “In the end, the win is the most important. And I think after, of course, you can analyze the game, but if you go to the next round, this is the most important.”
I asked Mauricio Pochettino what he thinks of the "Just win, baby" slogan – and whether his saying "it's the final of the World Cup tomorrow" means more focus on winning at all costs, and less on tactics.
Pochettino gave a long answer. Here it is in video form:
IRVINE, Calif. — The assertion on these pages of the importance of this World Cup’s first knockout round for the U.S. men’s soccer team drew a noteworthy response from a history-minded reader.
“Just because they changed how to make it from 32 to 16 doesn’t automatically make doing it more meaningful,” it said. “Not to be too ‘Bluesky reply guy’ but portraying it otherwise empowers FIFA’s money grab imo. On Wednesday the USMNT will try to do something they’ve done 5 of the last 8 men’s World Cups.”
Those are fair points, especially the one about FIFA grabbing money. The U.S. men have indeed been among the last 16 teams standing at five of the eight World Cups they played in from 1990-2022: ‘94, 2002, 2010, ‘14, and ‘22.
So the point that was made here is worth clarifying. It’s not just about being able to claim a title of being one of the best 32, 16, or any fewer national teams based on World Cup finish. It’s about the mentality of knockout soccer on the sport’s biggest stage, and how different it is from anything else.
Tyler Adams (left) and Walker Zimmerman on the field at the end of the U.S.’ loss to the Netherlands that knocked them out of the 2022 World Cup in the round of 16. This year’s tournament is the first with a round of 32.ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP / MCT
It’s also about whether U.S. players of this era can prove themselves in the way they’ve long told us they can. Lose the round of 32 contest to Bosnia & Herzegovina on Wednesday (8 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo 62), and all the promises go up in smoke.
That pressure might not be the same as the kind the superstars of Brazil, Argentina, England, and so on face every day. But it’s still a significant burden, and a particular kind for a team with DNA built on fighting for respect.
“I think everyone knows in the back of our minds what this could do for this country,” attacking midfielder Gio Reyna said before Monday’s practice, the last before the U.S. team headed north to the Bay Area for Wednesday’s game in Santa Clara.
“Not that we’ve really spoke about it or thought about it much — we’re pretty much just focused on each game in front of us at this moment, as it is win or go home,” he continued. But they don’t have to.
Gio Reyna (right) in action during the U.S.-Turkey group stage finale.Mark J. Terrill
“We feel the country rallying around us,” he said. “We see the momentum it’s bringing to the sport in this country just through the group stage. But we also understand that if we make a nice run in the tournament, what it could really do for the sport.”
Reyna and centerback Tim Ream were the two players who spoke Monday. Both were part of the 2022 team that took the U.S. back to the men’s World Cup after failing to qualify for 2018. Now Ream is this team’s captain, and its oldest player.
“Would it be weird if I told you I don’t really feel too much pressure at this minute?” he said. “I just think there’s so much pressure that we put on ourselves.”
He acknowledged in his next breath that “it feels very different this time around than 2022, I will say that,” though “not because of the round of 32 or because that was a round of 16.”
Tim Ream (center) on the field after the Netherlands scored its third goal against the U.S. in 2002.Martin Meissner
Instead it’s because of what is already in the players’ minds.
“I think we put so much expectation on ourselves as players — and I said this at the beginning of the tournament — but I think we felt more pressure for that first game against Paraguay than anything,” Ream said. “And that’s coming from ourselves, not from anything on the outside.”
The burden might weigh a little extra on Reyna, too, and not just because of the scandal that engulfed him and his family four years ago. Even if everything back then had been clean-cut, he’d still be the son of U.S. legend Claudio Reyna, who played for the U.S. at the 1998, 2002, and 2006 World Cups — but not in 1994 because of a hamstring injury.
“I always like to say it’s just another game of football, but at the end of the day, I think everybody knows what this game is,” Gio said. “World Cups only come around every four years, and especially on home soil, this opportunity will really never come back.”
After 72 games over 17 days in the group stage, the first 48-team World Cup has officially reduced to the 32 that will contest the knockout rounds.
If that doesn’t feel like much of a reduction, you aren’t alone. The old adage that the World Cup is really two tournaments in one, the group stage and the knockouts, feels more true than ever this summer.
But now the drama kicks up another gear, as it’s win or go home for every team left standing. Here’s what to know about the 32 games remaining before the July 19 final in North Jersey.
All games are televised on Fox29 in English and Telemundo 62 in Spanish, except for two in the round of 32 on FS1: Belgium vs. Senegal on July 1 and Switzerland vs. Algeria on July 2. All times listed are local to Philadelphia.
Lionel Messi hopes to help Argentina become the first back-to-back men’s World Cup champion since Brazil in 1958 and 1962.Jessica Tobias
Round of 32 schedule
The number and letter next to each country denotes where it placed in its group during group stage games.
Sunday
3 p.m.: 2A. South Africa vs. 2B. Canada in Inglewood, Calif.
4:30 p.m.: 1E. Germany vs. 3D. Paraguay in Foxborough, Mass.
9 p.m.: 1F. Netherlands vs. 2C. Morocco in Monterrey, Mexico
Brazil forward Vinícius Júnior (right) will hope to continue his good form when the five-time champions begin their knockout round run in Houston.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Tuesday
1 p.m.: 2E. Ivory Coast vs. 2I. Norway in Arlington, Texas
5 p.m.: 1I. France vs. 3F. Sweden in East Rutherford, N.J.
Noon: 1L. England vs. 3K. Democratic Republic of the Congo in Atlanta
4 p.m.: 1G. Belgium vs. A3. Senegal in Seattle
8 p.m.: 1D. United States vs. 3B. Bosnia & Herzegovina in Santa Clara, Calif.
Kylian Mbappé leads France’s team full of superstars that hopes to reach the nation’s third straight men’s World Cup final.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Thursday
3 p.m.: 1H. Spain vs. 2J. Austria in Inglewood, Calif.
7 p.m.: 2K. Portugal vs. 2L. Croatia in Toronto
11 p.m.: 1B. Switzerland vs. 3J. Algeria in Vancouver, B.C.
Noon: Argentina or Cape Verde vs. Australia or Egypt in Atlanta
4 p.m.: Switzerland or Algeria vs. Colombia or Ghana in Vancouver, B.C.
If the U.S. can make the round of 16, it will hope for another big home-field advantage in Seattle.Jonathan Tannenwald / Staff
Quarterfinals
July 9
4 p.m.: Germany, Paraguay, France, or Sweden vs. South Africa, Canada, Netherlands, or Morocco in Foxborough, Mass. (winner goes to semifinal 1)
July 10
3 p.m.: Portugal, Croatia, Spain, or Austria vs. United States, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Belgium, or Senegal in Inglewood, Calif. (winner goes to semifinal 1)
5 p.m.: Brazil, Japan, Ivory Coast, or Norway vs. Mexico, Ecuador, England, or D.R. Congo in Miami Gardens, Fla. (winner goes to semifinal 2)
9 p.m.: Argentina, Cape Verde, Australia, or Egypt vs. Switzerland, Algeria, Colombia, or Ghana in Atlanta (winner goes to semifinal 2)
The U.S. men’s soccer team played two of its three group stage games in Inglewood, Calif., at the venue normally known as SoFi Stadium.Jonathan Tannenwald
The Meadowlands will host a World Cup final for the first time, after the 1994 men’s and 1999 and 2003 women’s finals were played in the Los Angeles area.Seth Wenig
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — It’s a good thing that the U.S. men’s soccer team’s 3-2 loss to Turkey on Thursday didn’t matter for the standings. Because in many other circumstances, it would have been infuriating, not just annoying.
Had the game finished tied, there would have been very few complaints. Everyone knew coming in that the lineup would have a lot of rotation. An unbeaten run through the group stage would have kept up the good vibes, even with that changed squad giving up two goals.
Instead, giving up a last-kick-of-the-game goal meant the questions that followed were far less positive.
“Having that moment in the last moment where they score, it’s tough,” said Medford’s Brenden Aaronson, whose first World Cup start included four tackles, three defensive recoveries, three shots, 21-of-22 passing, and a first-touch misfire toward an open net in the 62nd minute that overshadowed much of the rest of his night.
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 26, 2026
“We wanted to walk away with no losses in the group stage, but we’ve got to take it, as it was still a fantastic group stage,” Aaronson said. “We had so many really good performances, and even before the group stage, in the friendlies. We’re at a top level. I’m not worried whatsoever, and we’re going to move on to the next one and be ready to go for Bosnia” in the round of 32.
Other players were more positive, in particular Sebastian Berhalter. He had an assist and a terrific goal in the game, and tried to set a tone by stepping to the microphone first.
Asked if the final score affects the team’s momentum, he said bluntly, “No, it doesn’t. … I think we gave everything we had, and we’ll be ready for the knockouts.”
Manager Mauricio Pochettino was flat-out defiant, saying “no one congratulated us for finishing first in a very difficult group.”
He repeatedly chided the media, saying at one point: “Your questions are a little bit weird, but I am so happy, and the players are happy, because I think we perform, we compete, and we are first. … Maybe I am confused, but the mood, the vibes [are] like we go home tonight and Turkey stays.”
Tyler Adams, who watched from the bench to avoid getting another yellow card, was asked if it’s better to flush the moment as Berhalter wanted or keep it as motivation heading into the knockout rounds.
“It’s not going to be perfect,” he said. “No tournament is perfect. You live and you learn. I think a lot of the guys will take lessons from that game. A lot of good performances otherwise.”
A moment later, goalkeeper Matt Turner was asked the same question. His inclusion in the starting lineup was perhaps the most controversial of the nine changes Pochettino made from the Australia game.
Matt Turner (left) watches Turkey’s players celebrate the game-winning goal.Mark J. Terrill
“When it’s 2-2 at the end there, that probably would have been the more fair result given the chances both sides had, but this is football, and we know how cruel the game can be,” he said. “We let our guard down, and we got punished for it. We were all in positions to make a play, and none of us could make the decisive play.”
Alejandro Zendejas, who finally got to make his World Cup debut, had a similar opinion.
“It’s always the worst, especially on the last play of the game, when that happens — when I think we had the game controlled, pretty dominated in my opinion,” he said. “But yeah, it’s a time to take the night or the day to reflect on the game, and then turn the page right away to focus on the next round for sure.”
In the big picture, the result didn’t matter — a rare luxury for a U.S. team that for decades has scrapped for every point it has gained at men’s World Cups. But it still did in a way, because a last-second goal like that has to matter.
Sebastian Berhalter (right) helping Auston Trusty (6) to his feet after the final whistle.Gregory Bull
And when the Americans, who won Group D, next take the field, on July 1 against Bosnia & Herzegovina in Santa Clara, Calif. (8 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo), the result will be all that matters. Bosnia & Herzegovina finished third in Group B.
“You can always take these things as fuel,” Aaronson said. Many U.S. fans will hope the team does so.
Whatever ends up happening to the U.S. in the knockout rounds, one moment will stay in the history books for a long time. Media native Auston Trusty became the first men’s player born and raised in the Philadelphia region to score a World Cup goal when he slammed in Berhalter’s corner kick service in the third minute.
“I’m a center back usually, playing in a left back spot [in this game],” Trusty said. “I can advance up, I can show different parts of my game going forward. I live and breathe for corners, and then had the opportunity and took advantage of it.”
THE @USMNT SCORES IN THE 3RD MINUTE TO TAKE THE LEAD 🇺🇸
The only other male player to have lived in the area and scored a World Cup goal was Bart McGhee. He immigrated from Scotland to Philadelphia as a child and scored the program’s first-ever World Cup goal in the inaugural tournament in 1930.
“It means everything,” Trusty said. “I absolutely didn’t know that stat. … I think it’s an honor to score a goal and even participate in this competition, let alone score a goal. So yeah, just a dream come true.”
His celebration was as vibrant as the shot, as he screamed and raised a finger while sprinting away toward the U.S. bench. And back home, a big crowd at Philadelphia’s fan fest on Lemon Hill roared just as loudly.
Trusty’s night ended on a sour note when he got stepped on by Turkey’s Oğuz Aydın, rolled an ankle, and managed to suffer a hamstring cramp as he hit the ground. He went back in the game (in part because the U.S. was out of substitutions), then slipped amid the chaos of the last goal.
By the time he emerged to the media, he had that ankle wrapped, but otherwise, he didn’t seem any worse for wear.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — With first place already secured, the U.S. men’s soccer team finished out its World Cup group stage slate with a 3-2 loss to Turkey on Thursday.
Kaan Ayhan scored the winner with the last kick of the game in the 98th minute, denying the Americans an unbeaten group run after wins in the firsttwo games.
That took the air out of what had been a raucous crowd of 70,492 that watched Media’s Auston Trusty score the second-fastest U.S. goal in men’s World Cup history, and Sebastian Berhalter tie the score early in the second half after Turkey led 2-1 at halftime.
Still, with the group already wrapped up, the U.S. is set to face Bosnia & Herzegovina in the round of 32 on July 1 in Santa Clara, Calif. (8 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo 62). That matchup was confirmed earlier Thursday by other results across the final round of the group stage.
Against Turkey, U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino started the night by making even more lineup rotations than he’d hinted at. There were nine changes from the last starting group against Australia, and 10 from the opening game against Paraguay. Weston McKennie goes down as the only player to start all three games, and Ricardo Pepi as the only other player to start two.
Trusty got things going by smashing in a Sebastian Berhalter corner kick that fell right at his feet. The Media native and Union product ran away screaming as he celebrated his first national team goal, and the first U.S. goal at a men’s World Cup scored by a player born in the Philadelphia region.
The only other American goal scorer to have resided in the area was Scotland-to-Philadelphia immigrant Bart McGhee in 1930, the first tournament in history.
THE @USMNT SCORES IN THE 3RD MINUTE TO TAKE THE LEAD 🇺🇸
It was also the second-fastest scored by a U.S. player at a men’s World Cup, topping John O’Brien’s fourth-minute tally against Portugal in 2002. (Clint Dempsey’s strike in 30 seconds against Ghana in 2014 will be a lot harder to beat.)
Alas, the lead only lasted seven minutes. It started with Arda Güler of Spanish superpower Real Madrid taking a pretty pass from Oğuz Aydın, then beating Mark McKenzie twice off the dribble as he ran forward. The first move cleared a path for Barış Alper Yılmaz, and the second came when Yılmaz returned the ball to Güler for an easy finish past Matt Turner.
McKenzie nearly made up for it in the 29th when the U.S. got another corner kick and he cashed in a rebound. But he was offside when Pepi’s initial shot was saved by Uğurcan Çakır, so it didn’t count.
Orkun Kökçü put Turkey ahead in the 31st by capping off the kind of move Turkey was supposed to make throughout this tournament: fast, skilled passing leading to a precise finish. Güler was in the middle of the buildup along with Turkey’s other superstar, Kenan Yıldız of Italy’s Juventus.
Now, at last, the team that had taken 62 shots over its first two games without scoring — the most of any team in the tournament, and the highest total without a goal since stats started in 1966 — was finally finding the net. And of course it had to come in this game, not just for the U.S.’ sake but for the sake of a team already eliminated from advancing.
Another look at the build-up from Türkiye and the goal from Kökçü to take the lead over the US in Los Angeles 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/CPvlOSPbUY
The U.S. flew out of the gates again to start the second half, and this time Berhalter finished a goal instead of starting it. McKenzie launched a throw-in, Turkey’s Abdülkerim Bardakcı knocked it down in the box, the ball deflected out to Berhalter, and he lashed in a first-time hit from the 18-yard line.
2-2! SEBASTIAN BERHALTER FINDS THE EQUALIZER FOR THE @USMNT 🇺🇸
Christian Pulisic was the first substitute to enter, replacing Tim Weah in the 58th. It wasn’t a surprise that he played, but it was a bit surprising that he came in so early.
Four minutes later, Brenden Aaronson caught a piece of a loose ball off Çakır’s save of a Pulisic shot, but his first-touch attempt rolled far off target.
A trio of subs entered in the 77th: Sergiño Dest, Alex Freeman, and Alejandro Zendejas for Aaronson, Gio Reyna, and Joe Scally. That set up the U.S. with three centerbacks for the rest of the night, plus Trusty continuing his start on the left flank.
Malik Tillman was the last substitute to enter, replacing McKennie in the 86th.
Unfortunately, the night ended on a bad note for Trusty. He was clipped by Aydın and went down in a heap. But at least he could walk off under his own power, and he returned to the game after a short spell on the sideline.
IRVINE, Calif. — It was the day after Andrew Rick played in the one MLS game he had featured in for the Union this year, and it had not gone well. The 20-year-old was in net for a 4-3 loss at Orlando City, with the decisive goal landing in the 90th minute after the Union had rallied from 3-1 down to tie the score.
Rick was still in a bad mood when he got home, so he decided to distract himself by playing video games.
Then the phone rang.
“It wasn’t a saved contact, and I just saw that it was U.S. Soccer,” he said.
He picked up, of course, and found veteran U.S. men’s national team staffer Sam Zapatka on the line. The program wanted to have some extra goalkeepers on hand for practices, and wanted Rick to be one of them.
Andrew Rick (second from left) watching a shot come his way in the Union’s Concacaf Champions Cup home game against Mexico’s Club América in March.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
“It was not a great day for me up until that call,” Rick said. “He let me know the news, and I changed my mood immediately, to say the least.”
Two weeks later, he set off for the journey of — well, maybe not a lifetime, since the point is he might play in a World Cup some day. But certainly his lifetime to date.
“It’s a dream,” Rick said. “I wouldn’t think that at this stage of my career, I would be in the place that I am in now, and to have the ability to train with all these [players] — and a lot of them I’ve watched play when I was pretty young — to now get this experience to train with them and be a part of the group, it’s unbelievable to say the least.”
Rick is one of three goalkeeper prospects, all the same age, who have been with the U.S. team this summer. At first, it was him and Diego Kochen of Spanish superpower FC Barcelona, a highly-touted player who has been to a few senior camps already. Kochen left in the first week of the tournament, amid news of a potential loan move for next season, and Julian Eyestone of English Premier League club Brentford came in.
Andrew Rick (left), Julian Eyestone (second from left), and other players jogging at a recent U.S. practice.Jonathan Tannenwald
So not only has Rick gotten to hang with the stars, but he’s the only one of the trio who will have been there the whole time.
New and old friends
“Me and Julian are super-close,” he said, noting they were roommates on a U.S. under-20 squad that went to Argentina in March. He had not met Kochen until now, but they got along well too.
“We have a lot in common just from age alone, and there’s not a lot of other guys here that are our age,” Rick said. “So just being able to be around those guys and have someone closer to my age is nice, just because we can talk a bit more and fit in together. And Diego, he’s been in this environment before, so he also kind of helped me fit in with the other guys and reach out and talk to them a bit.”
Among the senior players, none means more to Rick than Matt Freese. They’ve known each other for around eight years, and Rick watched Freese on a similar journey to his: from the Union’s youth academy to becoming Andre Blake’s backup on the first team.
Andrew Rick (second from right) with the three U.S. goalkeepers on the World Cup team: from left, Matt Freese, Chris Brady, and Matt Turner.Jonathan Tannenwald
“Freese has been there for my first Union II training, my first [Union] first team training, and my first men’s national team training,” Rick said. “I’ve known of him for probably, I don’t know, since I’ve been a Union fan. When he was joining was kind of when I started to really get into it, and when I was joining the academy … And obviously he’s a great role model, amazing person.”
Freese returned the favor, joking that Rick “might have been, like, two when I met him.” But the praise that ensued was sincere.
“He’s doing a great job,” Freese said. “I think for [all of] them, it’s such a unique experience to be able to be within the group in an environment like this, training every day but also getting to know us off the field. Certainly on the field as well, and being tested and seeing what the future may hold for them.”
Manager Mauricio Pochettino has been paying attention too. There’s certainly a practical side to having extra bodies on hand, but Pochettino is also happy to do something for the bigger picture.
Mauricio Pochettino (right) with goalkeeper coach Toni Jiménez.Jonathan Tannenwald
“I think, always, we’re thinking to try to help develop young players, even if we don’t know if we’re going to be here or not in the future,” Pochettino said, referring to his contract expiring after the World Cup. “But I think we need to work like we are going to be forever here, on a long-term process. That is why one thing is to get the result today, and provide everything to the federation and the team [for] the possibility to perform now, today or yesterday; but at the same time, to help, in parallel, the evolution and development of the young kids that are going to be the important players for the future of this country.”
Rick confessed to being an extra level of thrilled because he’s a fan of English club Tottenham Hotspur, perhaps the best-known former home for Pochettino.
“My first day he welcomed me. We just a quick conversation about just where I’m at and all that,” Rick said. “I was a huge ‘Poch’ fan as a kid, now I get to to be coached by him. So it’s an honor.”
A day in the life
On most practice days — and there have been more than usual, with a week between games so far in the first 48-team World Cup — Rick has been amid the first team’s action. Other days, the prospects work separately with assistant goalkeeper coach Jack Robinson.
Andrew Rick getting some work in with the ball at his feet.Jonathan Tannenwald
“I think this World Cup’s a bit different to the last, at least talking to some of the other guys, and just seeing it in general,” he said. “But I think the main thing is just being exposed to the environment. If I ever want to get back to this level — and hopefully when I do get back to this level — just knowing what it’s like, and knowing some of these guys and building that relationship with them now while I’m here, is going to be so important down the road for me.”
When game day arrives, Rick and Eyestone get to spend most of it with the first team.
“We’re basically with the team until they walk out, and then we go into these seats that are right behind the bench,” Rick said. “So we’ll walk in with the team, we’ll watch warm-ups from the pitch. We’ll be in there for the team talk before the game, and then once they walk out, we’ll go to a separate section that’s right behind the bench and watch from there.”
At halftime, it’s back to the locker room, then back to the stands, then on to the field to join what have so far been celebrations and applause for the big crowds.
He’s well aware that his up-close perch would cost a fan thousands of dollars.
“The ticket prices are crazy, but the good thing is it’s not affecting attendance,” Rick said. “I’m not going to lie, I was a little surprised — I was expecting a lot of people to be scared of $3,000 tickets for one [person], but it seems thankfully I’m wrong. Because, I mean, Seattle was amazing. Best experience I’ve ever had with a crowd, there.”
He has talked with colleagues back in Chester, naming goalkeeper coach Phil Wheddon (who worked with U.S. national teams in the past), Nathan Harriel, and fellow goalkeeper George Marks. Rick also was well aware that he’ll come home to a new manager, as Bradley Carnell was fired a few days after he left town.
Rick knows interim manager Ryan Richter well, since Richter was promoted from coaching the Union’s reserve squad. But it turns out their relationship goes back much farther.
After the Union fired manager Bradley Carnell, Union II head coach Ryan Richter was promoted to the top job for the time being.Jonathan Tannenwald / Staff
“He was my Union Juniors coach when I first started, he was my u-12, coach. He was my u-15 coach, he was my union first team assistant coach, then he was Union II coach, and now he’s the first team head coach,” Rick said. “So I feel like I’ve kind of been there every step of the way through the pathway with him. He’s a great guy, and I know how he wants to play and all that super-well just. … I’m proud of him.”
That moment of reflection led to Rick looking back at his own growth along the way.
“If I’m being honest, coaching u-12 Andrew is very frustrating, and then coaching u-15 Andrew is also very frustrating,” he said. “But I give him credit, because he’s been dedicated through it all, and now he’s got the ultimate goal which is being the first team head coach.”
At a moment like this, Rick can dream of his ultimate goal, too. However long it takes him to get there, at least this summer has given him a special way to see the path.
After a pair of electrifying matches in which the United States displayed arguably its most dominant performance at a World Cup, just one more match remains in Group D for the Americans, a primetime showdown with Turkey on Thursday (10 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo 62).
With the U.S. awaiting its round of 32 opponent on July 1, it’s anyone’s guess whom Mauricio Pochettino, the U.S. men’s head coach, will start against Turkey, which has been eliminated from advancing after losing to Paraguay in its second match.
Right now, we know that Christian Pulisic is trying to return to the lineup after missing the USMNT’s 2-0 win over Australia in Seattle last Friday. But will Pochettino trot him out or offer even more rest before the knockout round match?
Christian Pulisic (center) was active in Wednesday’s practice ahead of their final match in Group D against Turkey on Thursday.Jonathan Tannenwald
It’s what our team of soccer writers weighs in on this week as the U.S. looks to finish strong in a match that matters very little.
I really don’t know what to think about this game, since there are no actual stakes in it.
Sure, it’s nice that the U.S. has clinched first place and will now play a World Cup game with no standing stakes for the first time since 1998. (That one was the polar opposite of this, as the Americans were eliminated from progressing after two games.)
But how much will Pochettino rotate his lineup? Even being out at the team’s camp, it’s tough to say.
It’s also unclear what Turkey will do. A team with lots of attacking talent has taken 62 shots over its two games combined so far, but failed to score in both. Will this be the day they finally find the net? And if so, what will it do for their mentality?
Something tells me that’s coming, and the U.S. had better be ready.
Honestly, after a deeper dive into this one, the question is not so much will the U.S. win, but who will play. This might be a good chance to give players who haven’t seen the field yet the chance to prove to Pochettino that they can be effective in key moments, particularly against a bona fide soccer nation like Turkey, even if this installment of their starting 11 has yet to inspire.
Let’s see a strong performance from Brenden Aaronson and Mark McKenzie, two local guys who cracked the roster but are still looking for their first minutes. Matt Freese has been fantastic in goal, but let’s not forget that his backup is Matt Turner, who was the U.S.’s No. 1 for a while, even under Pochettino.
— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) June 24, 2026
This game scratches the itch for those players who have yet to make an appearance. If that’s the mindset Pochettino employs, then motivation alone from those guys should be enough for the U.S. to take three points and finish off a perfect group stage performance heading into next week.
Win, lose, or draw against Turkey, the U.S. is moving on to the knockout round. It’s great news for an American side trying to win its second-ever knockout match in its history, but it’s terrible news for prognosticators.
There’s little way to be sure of who will play for either the U.S. or Turkey, making Thursday’s match as unpredictable as the average Week 18 NFL game.
— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) June 24, 2026
Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Tyler Adams, and Folarin Balogun will all sit out on Thursday to avoid getting another yellow card against Turkey.
That said, the sheer quality we’ve seen from the USMNT this tournament (and the lack thereof from Turkey) should equate to another three points for the U.S.
To paraphrase Whose Line is it Anyway?, this is a game “where everything is made up and the points don’t matter.” With the U.S. already clinching first place in Group D and a spot in the round of 32, they can afford to let Pulisic rest his calf.
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Turkey has nothing to play for, except pride. It’s just their second appearance at the World Cup since 1954, and in a game with so many unknowns, the only sure thing is The Crescent Stars will be playing hard to avoid going home scoreless and winless.
Turkey certainly hasn’t lacked aggressiveness this tournament, but success hasn’t followed. Through two games, they’ve taken 62 shots, but zero have found the back of the net, the most in a World Cup since 1966, according to the Athletic.
During the second half of France’s dominant win over Iraq in Philadelphia on Monday, the refs worked hard to move the storm-delayed game along, eliminating the second-half water break and adding minimal stoppage time. That feels like the mood of this game — Turkish pride against a U.S. team already looking toward July 1.
DANA POINT, Calif. — Fifteen months ago, Mauricio Pochettino walked out of SoFi Stadium at the low point of his tenure as the U.S. men’s soccer team’s manager.
Not only had his players lost both games at the Concacaf Nations League final four, but they had lost badly, with a squad including many of the program’s stars. He had taken the job to prepare one of the World Cup’s cohosts for the biggest stage, and everything felt about as far from ready as possible.
Two weeks ago, Pochettino was back on the same field, about an hour north of here, joined by many of the same players. This time, they charged to a 4-1 rout of Paraguay in the Americans’ World Cup opener, jolting the tournament and the nation to attention.
“I didn’t recognize it,” he said in a gathering with media at his office in the team’s swanky hotel along the Pacific Ocean. “Because it was empty” the first time.
Mauricio Pochettino’s frustration showed during the U.S. team’s loss to Panama in last year’s Concacaf Nations League semifinals.Etienne Laurent
Indeed, the stands were mostly empty when the U.S. played Panama in the semifinals, then Canada in the third-place game. They were filled only in the other halves of those doubleheaders, when Mexico won twice to take its first Nations League title after three straight U.S. triumphs.
“I was crying afterward in the dressing room, because I felt so sad for all the American people, for the players, for the staff,” Pochettino recalled. “I said, ‘OK, we play in our own place, our own country, and 70,000 Mexican people’ … I cannot accept that.”
This time, as he put it, was “a completely different vibe, different energy.” The place was full, and backing the hosts. Sure, that it was a World Cup helped, even with the ticket prices. But it was clear from the moment the crowd joined in singing the national anthem that there really were U.S. national team fans in the stands.
There’s still a long way to go this summer, with progression to the knockout rounds and first place secured before Thursday’s group stage finale against Turkey (10 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo 62). And the U.S. team hopes there will be a long way still to go after that.
But given this game’s lessened stakes, there’s a moment to stop and survey just how far the program has come.
A big crowd was on hand on June 12 in Inglewood, Calif., for the U.S. World Cup opener against Paraguay.Marcio J. Sanchez
‘The person you used to be’
The most striking feature of Pochettino’s office is a balcony with a postcard view of the water, the surfers in it, and the stunning sunsets beyond them. Ranked No. 2 is a wall covered with a U.S. Soccer logo and one of the team’s slogans for the tournament: Why Not U.S.?
Within the lines of type, Pochettino wrote a series of motivational phrases, some of his creation and some by others.
Growth is often painful, for it means saying goodbye to the person you used to be.
The talent has brought us here, but it is heart, effort, and unity that will make us unforgettable.
Heart turns effort into belief — and when everything hurts, heart keeps us fighting together.
Mauricio Pochettino (right) giving instructions to Auston Trusty (left) and Mark McKenzie during Tuesday’s U.S. practice at the team’s base camp in Irvine, Calif., ahead of Thursday’s match against Turkey.Jonathan Tannenwald
“I think every single quote represents our journey from day one to today and beyond,” he said.
They’re also more proof of how Pochettino values the psychological side of the sport, a factor that’s even more important with national teams than it is with clubs.
National teams can’t buy players to boost their talent the way clubs can, especially Pochettino’s previous employers at England’s Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur and France’s Paris Saint-Germain. If a national team’s top players aren’t delivering, all the manager can do is drop them, call in other players, and hope they do enough.
That’s what happened after the Nations League failure.
Yunus Musah (left) is perhaps the highest-profile player who has fallen out of the national team rotation during Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure.Etienne Laurent
“Maybe we didn’t feel or see how difficult the process was going to be,” Pochettino said. “We were so naive when we signed our contract. … We misjudged the situation — it was worse than we really believed.”
‘We were knocked out’
He and the assistants he brought with him came in believing that the players would immediately be as all-in on working toward the World Cup as the staff.
“And then we arrived here, we received a big punch,” he said, mimicking it, “and we were knocked out for a while.”
Pochettino was, as he relayed in these remarks with an expletive, shocked.
Mauricio Pochettino (center, in cap) and top assistant Jesús Pérez (foreground) during a U.S. practice last October.Jonathan Tannenwald
“We were so excited about that, because it was so close to the World Cup,” he said. He expected in turn that people would be “desperate to help everyone, to be involved, come to the national team. And what’s the opposite?”
He felt it as soon as he took charge in the fall of 2024. By the time the Nations League final four arrived, he said “that punch, we expected” — words as damning as any he has said in his tenure.
“I think it was more a plan to have this punch that was painful, but it was necessary for people to realize in which place we were,” Pochettino said. “For the players to realize that this way, it was impossible to arrive in a good condition to the World Cup.”
We’ll never know what would have happened if the U.S. had won the Nations League title with its stars playing well. But because it didn’t, Pochettino moved quickly to start tearing things down, bringing in a slate of new players to challenge incumbents from the summer’s Gold Cup into the autumn.
Max Arfsten (left) is one of the new players who has gained Mauricio Pochettino’s trust.Jeff Dean
There were a lot of questions along the way, and among outsiders, uncertainty as to whether the move would pay off. But when the Americans beat Japan in September, they showed they had reached the corner to turn around. Over the ensuing months, they got there.
Now, Pochettino has a galvanized group, and some of its biggest names have led the way in the World Cup. The U.S. might not be able to win it all, but there’s no questioning the players’ commitment now.
At one point, Pochettino was asked how much he has learned about American culture in the job. He has been asked that a few times in his tenure, and unfortunately hasn’t had much to answer with — not least because he and his staff don’t live in the United States.
This time, he had more to say.
“People are very approachable, they make you feel comfortable, it’s very welcoming,” he said. “You go to some place like Nashville and you go to a bar, and if you are alone, you make friends so quick. And it looks like in a few minutes, you belong that in that place.”
That, he said, “was a massive surprise. … Different states and everything, but you have the same essence of the human being.”
If it’s tempting to want such a message that can resonate in a divided country — especially during a unifying event like a World Cup — it bears saying that Pochettino probably hasn’t experienced the full depths of what has caused the divisions.
But conversations with people who know him bring up a reminder: He’s one of many foreign visitors, especially from his native Argentina, who look up to the United States culturally and see the good before the bad.
“The country is massive and the people are so good,” Pochettino said. “I think we’ve learned a lot, I think we are much better people now, knowing the country and the culture of the people here.”
He made a wisecrack about America’s reputation for junk food, a subject that the world has lived out in coming to our shores this summer. (Ask the Netherlands fans who went to Buc-ee’s, a famed Southern convenience store chain.)
“People say Americans have no healthy food. Yes, you have healthy food,” citing a trip he took to a Whole Foods supermarket. “But also you have the food that makes you feel, you know, like Chick-fil-A.”
He even said at one point that “when you are here, I think it’s difficult now to see yourself living in another place” and that “we will miss” the country.
Here was Mauricio Pochettino’s speech to the crowd at the start of the day:
That opened the door to ask if he’d like to stay in the job after his contract ends following the World Cup. There have been some discussions with U.S. Soccer, but the widespread presumption remains that he’ll go.
He avoided a direct answer, saying his focus now is on the World Cup.
“And then if we want to stay, we have months to talk, or days or weeks, because it’s four years until the next World Cup,” he said, later adding: “We told the federation we are open, but now I think it’s not to be distracted.”
IRVINE, Calif. — Trying to guess what’s on U.S. men’s soccer team manager Mauricio Pochettino’s mind when it comes to starting lineups is usually a fruitless endeavor. He likes to keep his cards close to the chest, and doesn’t reveal them until he has to on game day.
But all of his players, not just outsiders, know the four players sitting on a yellow card suspension threat heading into Thursday’s group stage finale against Turkey (10 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo 62): Tyler Adams, Folarin Balogun, Chris Richards, and Antonee Robinson. And they know the risk of playing Christian Pulisic as he finishes recovering from a calf injury.
That opens the door for backups who haven’t featured much yet to get a shot. Two of them have talked with the media so far this week, left wingback Max Arfsten and attacking midfielder Alejandro Zendejas. They both said they’re ready to jump in if called.
“Training hard, been waiting for the opportunity, but I’m sure it’ll come,” Zendejas said. “That’s obviously a coach’s decision, and something I’ve got to respect, but I’ve always said it all depends how I’m on the field. I’m working hard, having fun, really enjoying this dream that I’m living right now, so I couldn’t ask for more.”
Alejandro Zendejas (right) shares a laugh with Haji Wright after hitting the deck during a drill.Jonathan Tannenwald
Arfsten said before Tuesday’s practice that as of then, the players “haven’t heard anything about” who will start Thursday.
“That’s obviously the coach’s decision and whatever he decides, obviously we’re going to be on the same page with that,” he added.
As Arfsten continued at the mic, he left no doubt that all 26 players are well-trained at handling pesky inquiries from the media.
“It’s a tough question — good thing I’m not a coach,” he said at one point. “But honestly, I think the most important thing is, no matter who’s playing, to go out and try and get three points. Just because I think the momentum of the two wins is what’s keeping the energy high right now, and three would be even more.”
Max Arfsten jogging during Tuesday’s practice.Jonathan Tannenwald
He at least signaled that the tone of training sessions hasn’t changed with first place in the group sealed.
“Obviously everyone’s happy that we’ve already advanced, but at the same time, regardless of if we’ve advanced or not, training is still very competitive, it’s very intense,” Arfsten said. “And I think that’s the culture that the coach has created: no matter what, that everyone’s still trying to prove something.”
One starter likely to keep his place is goalkeeper Matt Freese. The Wayne native showed in the first two games why he earned Pochettino’s trust as the No. 1 in net.
He is also perhaps the team’s most steadfast player when it comes to a one-day-at-a-time mentality. So when he was asked about potential lineup rotations in front of him, he barely flinched.
“It’s a coach’s decision, obviously, and we’ve got 26 guys here who all want to play, and who all are ready to play, and are working hard every day in training,” Freese said. “And we as a group have full confidence in all 26 of us. So really, we’re focused on continuing to prepare and work hard in training, and be ready for whatever.”
