Despite already being eliminated, Turkey sealed victory against a weakened United States team who made 9 changes after already qualifying in top spot in Group D.
Kaan Ayhan’s goal with the last kick of the game secured a 3-2 win for Turkey, a positive end to a tournament to forget for them. And with the Americans already qualifying first in the group before the last match day, they go into the last 32 where they will face Bosnia and Herzegovina.
USA Fast Out The Blocks
The host nation had created a party atmosphere inside the SoFi Stadium, home to the LA Rams and Chargers, and with 70,492 fans, including Hollywood stars Brad Pitt, Owen Wilson and Ed Norton, they were set for a World Cup classic.
The Americans were out to impress the home crowd and with just two minutes on the clock Celtic defender Auston Trusty was left unmarked at a corner and opened the scoring with a low drive past Turkey goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir.
Just as they had against Paraguay and Australia, the US went ahead early, however Turkey settled into the game, and were in search of an equaliser. They found it through an impressive team goal finished off by Real Madrid prospect Arda Güler, Turkey's first goal of this year's finals.
Mauricio Pochettino's side thought they had a second goal as Timothy Weah had the ball in the back of the net following a USA corner, but it was ruled out for offside.
Turkey turned the match on its head in the 30th minute with an effort from Orkun Kokcu flicking off Yilmaz, and putting them 2-1 ahead. USA were in uncharted territory trailing in a match for the first time this tournament, leaving them with work to do in the second half.
Turkey Capitalise on USA's Missed Chances
An American long throw early into the second half caused chaos inside the area and the ball fell kindly to the edge of the box for Sebastian Berhalter to unleash a well struck volley from 20 yards out that beat the sprawling Cakir for the Americans’ second goal of the game.
The introduction of captain Christian Pulisic, following his omission from the last game due to injury, inserted energy into the USA ranks. They were in search for a winner and dominated large parts of the second half with Pulisic helping to create two quick chances, including a shot that hit the post off a fine tipped save from Cakir.
But a Turkey dagger came with seconds left on the clock after some excellent work from Güler who beat two defenders to deliver a cross which found Ayhan totally unmarked at the far post. He made no mistake with his finish and with the final kick of the game, and of Turkey's 2026 World Cup, got the nation's first World Cup victory since 2002.
Pochettino Too Complacent?
Though this match was a dead rubber, much will be made of Mauricio Pochettino’s decision to almost fully rotate his squad. The 9 changes he made saw their 100% winning record come to an end but still stated "I think it is all positive. I am so happy, I think the players competed and we performed and we finished first."
The Argentine went on to say he felt the crowd's reaction was negative and that "No-one congratulates us to finish first in a very difficult group". He felt the decision to rest and not play players on a yellow card was not worth the risk and stood by his choices.
With bigger tests to come, Pochettino's side will be determined to tighten up defensively and they can now focus on a Round of 32 tie against Bosnia and Herzegovina, where they will hope this defeat proves nothing more than a valuable wake up call.
