A positive start to what the United States hope will be an historic summer. On Sunday afternoon, the World Cup co-hosts claimed an impressive 3-2 victory over African champions Senegal in their penultimate World Cup warm-up match in North Carolina.
Sergiño Dest opened the scoring, Christian Pulisic doubled the Stars and Stripes' lead soon after and then Folarin Balogun bagged the winner, after two Sadio Mané goals had seen the Lions of Téranga draw level at Bank of America Stadium. This was a much-needed victory for the USMNT, considering they had been comprehensively beaten by both Belgium and Portugal in Atlanta in March. Next up, they'll take on four-times world champions Germany at Soldier Field on Saturday, before the serious business begins six days later.
So, ahead of their Group D opener against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium, which players will have impressed Mauricio Pochettino, and who might have just played their way out of contention? Well, once again, Pochettino deployed a back three at the weekend, one featuring Alex Freeman, making it likely that this will be the shape once the World Cup begins. Mark McKenzie was part of the defensive trio, deputising for Chris Richards, who is nursing an ankle injury. Considering how easily Mané scored Senegal's two goals, the U.S. badly need the Crystal Palace defender to be back and fast.
In goal, neither Matt Turner nor Chris Brady, who came on for his senior debut in Charlotte, were overly convincing. Thus, despite being the only goalkeeper of the trio not to see any minutes, perhaps Matt Freese's stock went up, seemingly the most-likely candidate to be number one.
In midfield, Tyler Adams' name is written in permanent marker, but the identity of his partner remains a question mark. Sebastian Berhalter got the nod for this first friendly, but Weston McKennie will surely be a starter at the World Cup, while many expected that Cristian Roldán, who also came off the bench, would prove to be Pochettino's preferred choice.
In attack, even though Ricardo Pepi saw the first 45, Folarin Balogun's goal off the bench will only have cemented himself as the number nine. In-behind, it may only have been a friendly, but Christian Pulisic's goal and all-round excellent performance in Charlotte could prove invaluable.
As AC Milan's form fell off a cliff, the Rossoneri winning only five of their last 14 Serie A games, thereby sinking from 2nd to 5th, Pulisic's performances followed a similarly sharp downward trajectory. He has not scored a club goal since 28 December, clearly lacking confidence. Similarly, at international level, his last goal came against Jamaica in St. Louis in November 2024, failing to net in eight outings subsequently, before a goal and an assist in the opening 20 minutes last weekend.
In summary, of Sunday's starters, only six are guaranteed to remain in those roles at the World Cup. This rises to seven if Richards is not fit. Goalkeeper, Adams' midfield partner and the attacking midfield role alongside Pulisic are all up for grabs, with Balogun set to return up front. This is probably an ideal amount of continuity and certainty for Pochettino to have, with Saturday's clash against Germany in Illinois the final chance for those on the fringes to stake a claim.
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