Christian Pulisic subs on as U.S. loses to Türkiye on last kick

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – After starting the World Cup with two performances full of incredible verve and vibrancy, the United States finished their group stage with a showing that was erratic, inconsistent and ultimately dispiriting as they lost for the first time at this World Cup — beaten on the final kick of the game when Turkiye substitute Kaan Ayhan smashed the ball into the net off a scramble in front of goal.

Fans may reasonably say that the result — Türkiye 3, U.S. 2 — matters little, both because the U.S. fielded a team full of reserves and because the group’s larger fate was already determined after they beat Paraguay and Australia in their two previous games. The U.S. knew before kickoff that, whatever happened, they would face Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32 on Wednesday in Santa Clara.

They still will. And presumably they will do so with Christian Pulisic, who entered just before the hour and played with familiar pace and power. While the U.S. succeeded in his absence, there is no question the Americans are far better with their incisive attacker than without him.

Pulisic did not seem to have any limitations from the calf injury that forced him out of the opening match at halftime and left him on the bench completely for the second game.

When a long ball was flighted diagonally in his direction, he judged that the Turkish defender wouldn’t be able to reach it and accelerated into its path, pushing it forward and whizzing into the area where he smashed a shot off the post. Moments later, he had another chance that forced Ugurcan Çakir into a sharp save and with 15 minutes to go he lashed a left-footed attempt from distance — even as he slipped — that whistled wide.

It was everything the U.S. could have hoped to see from Pulisic, even if the overall result wasn’t quite what they wanted.

“He’s a special player, no doubt he adds something to the group,” midfielder Weston McKennie told Fox. “Whenever the game might look dry or the game isn’t creative, he can come in and be that player to create something out of thin air.

“It was good to see him back on the pitch and hopefully we can see him again in San Francisco.”

Make no mistake: Even without significant stakes, the U.S. played to win. No U.S. men’s team has ever won all three group games at a World Cup, and coach Mauricio Pochettino talked all week about the importance of momentum and pushing his players to keep fighting for another victory. When Auston Trusty, one of nine new starters, smashed home a sharp-angled shot off an arcing corner kick from Sebastian Berhalter just three minutes in, the crowd of 70,492 exploded and it looked like the U.S. was off and running again.

Only this time it didn’t last. Türkiye, which many thought would top this group but was eliminated early after two drab losses in which it scored zero goals, didn’t fold up. Rather, it looked to relish the possibility of bringing one of this tournament’s host countries down a notch.

Star midfielder Arda Güler finished off a move in which Mark McKenzie seemed to get lost twice on the same play to level the score in the 10th minute and Joe Scally was beaten badly down the wing about 20 minutes later by Eren Elmali who crossed to Orkun Kökçü as Türkiye took the lead.

Would the half have looked different if Tim Ream and Chris Richards were in the middle of the back line? Almost surely. The same might be said of the attack and Folarin Balogun, Pulisic and Malik Tillman. But rest and the avoidance of yellow cards — particularly for Balogun, Tyler Adams, Richards and Antonee Robinson, who would be suspended a game if cautioned once more in this phase — were paramount, so the regular starters had the night off.

The U.S. did bounce back early in the second half. Berhalter smashed a gorgeous half-volley from just outside the penalty area that beat the Turkish goalkeeper at the near post, and the U.S. controlled much of the possession. But there was no breakthrough for either side until Ayhan seized the moment just before the final whistle to send the U.S. to defeat.

“Everybody wants to go into the next game winning their previous game,” McKennie added. “Obviously we didn’t do that tonight and I think that’s going to motivate us even more to try and prove that the first two games weren’t just a coincidence. I think the momentum will still be there, the vibes will still be there with the team and we’ll look forward to whoever we have to play next.”

Tie or loss, though: the preliminaries are now over. Bigger tasks lie ahead.