U.S. men advance as Group D winners after loss to Turkey
Turkey’s 98th-minute winner exposed the U.S. defense, but the Americans still claimed Group D with a team-record six points.
Turkey turned the U.S. men’s final group-stage match into a 3-2 loss at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, when Kaan Ayhan scored in the 98th minute on Thursday, June 25, 2026. The standings barely moved, but the match laid bare the questions the Americans carry into the knockout round: how to manage a game after taking an early lead, how much depth can be trusted, and whether late defensive concentration holds under pressure.
Auston Trusty put the United States ahead in the third minute, and Sebastian Berhalter later scored and added an assist as the Americans tried to steady the match after Turkey pushed back. Turkey answered with three goals of its own, including Ayhan’s finish on the final kick. The result ended the U.S. unbeaten run in the tournament, but it did not alter advancement. U.S. Soccer said the Americans moved on as Group D winners with a team-record six points after beating Paraguay 4-1 in the opener and Australia 2-0 in the second match.
The broader concern is less the loss itself than the way it arrived. The U.S. had already clinched a place in the Round of 32, and AP reporting said the team’s main objective was to leave the match without injuries or a red card before the knockout stage. That context explains the lineup decisions, but it also means the late collapse will be read as a test of game management and squad depth, not merely an inconsequential stumble. Giving up the deciding goal in stoppage time after twice taking control of the scoreline is the kind of lapse that can be corrected only if the team tightens its defensive structure and closes matches more cleanly.
Several players said after the match that they were not worried by the first defeat and were focused on the knockout round, while CBS News brought in former U.S. men’s player Marcelo Balboa to assess the result and its implications. FIFA had already noted after the win over Australia that the United States had not won back-to-back World Cup matches since the inaugural 1930 tournament, underscoring how unusual this run remains. The Americans now move to Santa Clara, California, for their Round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina with the group title secured and the next round set to reveal whether the late issues in Inglewood were fixable or more deeply rooted.
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