Well, it was fun while it lasted. The USMNT’s perfect little World Cup run just got hit with a massive dose of reality in Los Angeles. After making history by scoring a ton of goals, winning back-to-back games, and wrapping up Group D early, the Americans decided to celebrate by absolutely throwing against a Turkey team that had been having a completely disastrous tournament. A 3-2 loss, sealed by Turkey's Kaan Ayhan on the literal last kick of the game, has left fans wondering why we keep self-sabotaging right before the knockout rounds. Next up is Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32, and we have some serious questions to answer.

In front of 70,492 fans at Los Angeles Stadium, manager Mauricio Pochettino decided to go full galaxy-brain. He rotated almost his entire starting eleven, keeping only Weston McKennie from the squads that actually won against Paraguay and Australia. To make matters worse, Seattle Sounders captain Cristian Roldan was out with a quad injury all week. Without Roldan’s leadership and stability in the midfield, the US looked completely lost, lacking any of the fluidity that made them look like a competent soccer team in the previous matches.

Things actually started out great, which makes the collapse even funnier. Just like the previous games, the US scored super early. Sebastian Berhalter floated a corner kick right to an unmarked Auston Trusty, who somehow finished from a ridiculous angle to make it 1-0. Trusty was so hyped he ran over to the sideline and aggressively hugged Pochettino. Sadly, that was the high point of the night, as the defense immediately decided to stop playing soccer.

For some inexplicable reason, Pochettino abandoned the fluid backline that actually worked in the first two games and went back to a traditional flat back four. This is the exact same cooked defensive system that got absolutely demolished by Belgium in a 5-2 friendly back in March, and that the US struggled with during most of 2025. Predictably, it took about ten minutes for Turkey to expose this clown-show setup.

First, Real Madrid’s Arda Güler absolutely clowned the US defense in the 10th minute. He made a run right through our scattered backline, used Barış Alper Yılmaz as a screen, made Mark McKenzie look silly, and easily slotted it past Matt Turner. It was a complete disaster class in positioning and defensive awareness, and it set the tone for the rest of the first half.

Then, in the 31st minute, Turkey took advantage of some incredibly soft play. Weston McKennie got completely mossed in the air, and Turkey put together a basic passing sequence that left Joe Scally stranded out in no man's land. Eren Elmalı cut the ball back to Orkun Kökçü, who didn't even have to hit it cleanly because the defense gave him so much space. Just like that, it was 2-1 Turkey, and the US was trailing for the first time in the tournament.