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Turkey v USA: World Cup 2026 – live | World Cup 2026
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Key events
18 min Turkey’s coaches and reserve players are not happy with Mustapha Ghorbal, the Algerian referee. Berhalter gets yellow for a late tackle that ends with a hard step on an ankle, but surely some people on Turkey’s bench are flirting with yellow cards of their own.
17 min Trusty hits a ball over the top for Pepi, who has to drift over to collect it. He lays it back and the USA go from right to left but send the ball out of play.
16 min This game could end up 4-3. This second string-plus-McKennie lineup has a potent attack, but the defense look porous.
15 min Reyna joins Scally and McKennie in an attack on the right. He crosses, and it goes across for a throw-in. Weah throws it in … to a Turkish player.
13 min McKennie goes on a Han Solo-style me-against-everyone run down the right, and Turkey can’t catch him. He lays it back to Aaronson, whose first shot is blocked and whose second shot forces Çakır to save.
Fun game so far.
Goal! USA 1-1 Turkey (Güler 10)
Just sloppy at the back. McKenzie and Robinson get their signals crossed, Turkey play a quick back-and-forth, and Alper Yılmaz sets up the Real Madrid midfielder Güler to shoot past Matt Turner and equalize.
10 min Was that Brad Pitt?
Back on the field, Turkey slowly work their way through US pressure.
8 min Reyna takes flight and nearly somersaults in the air after a foul by Kökçü.
7 min Alper Yılmaz smashes into Scally as the US defender gains control of the ball. USA play long and get a bit of possession, but Aaronson is tackled cleanly.
6 min Aaronson and McKennie combine, but McKennie’s return pass is a little bit behind the Leeds forward.
5 min McKennie tracks back and nonchalantly takes the ball away as if picking up a soda can left on a coffee table.
4 min Miles Robinson cleans up his own mess at the back, giving the ball away but immediately reclaiming it.
Jeff Rueter
“Trusty” is such a good name for a defender, and also for a far-post set piece lurker. For all the talk of this being a meaningless game, this group seems ready to keep entertaining. Hell of a finish from the Celtic man!
Goal! USA 1-0 Turkey (Trusty 3)
Another corner kick, bounces around a bit, and the Celtic defender scores from an acute angle.
2 min WHAT A START for the USA. McKennie and Trusty had chances on that corner kick and forced a sprawling save from Çakır.
1 min Gio Reyna blasts a shot after a solid buildup on the right. Blocked out for a corner.
Peep! Here we go …
Quick inbox check:
Joe Pearson: “As an older man, let’s just say that when the players are getting hydrated, I am usually dehydrating, so to speak.”
Alexander Abnos
Among the very few joys of taking this one in from within a totally-enclosed press box, which should be outlawed from all stadiums: When the Turkey national anthem played, we could hear our colleagues from down the row singing along, clapping just like the players and fans when it was finished. Generally there’s a rule against cheering in the press box, but in this case I’ll make an exception. That was great.
Jeff Rueter
A few things I’ll be watching for, assuming all four players on a yellow card will truly be withheld.
1. How does Gio Reyna fare in his first World Cup start? He was fairly ineffective in his one start against Senegal before a halftime hook. He appears to be firmly behind McKennie and Tillman in the midfield queue, so not necessarily pushing to start against BIH, but a strong showing here could get him off the bench sooner than he has thus far.
2. Can Matt Turner force another wave of goalkeeper consternation? Matt Freese hasn’t been overworked thus far, facing just 13 shots and four on-target in 180 minutes, but his command of area has been lacking and both Paraguay and Australia were able to get a cross onto a target’s forehead within eight yards in the opening 10 minutes. No team has outshot Turkey thus far, so Turner should be kept busy.
3. Can Ricardo Pepi add end product to his international portfolio? The PSV forward has struggled to consistently score beyond Concacaf competition, but his work off the ball and pressing, plus in build-up, made him a key figure in a surprise start against Australia.
The crowd is singing the US national anthem – quite a bit behind the sprightly canned instrumental version playing in the stadium.
I’ve never been a big fan of what I call the “boom-crash” arrangement of the anthem. “Oh say can you (boom-crash) by the dawn’s early (boom-crash).” I’ve spent time in a percussion section myself, but it’s a bit much.
Alexander Abnos
What was thought to be all but certain has now been confirmed: Fifa’s web site says that no matter what happens tonight or in future games, the United States’ opponents in the Round of 32 will indeed be Bosnia and Herzegovina.
A mild cheer erupts when Alexi Lalas is shown on the big screen. He salutes and soaks up the cheers. Clint Dempsey, standing next to him preparing for his Fox appearance, turns around, realizes the cameras are on him, and salutes the crowd himself. The crowd then roars.
Injury note: Cristian Roldan is unavailable for the USA.
Star watch
Fotmob also has estimated transfer values for each player, and Turkey’s 21-year-old Real Madrid midfielder Arda Güler is listed at $100m. If you take out the top two players in the US starting XI (Pepi $30m, Weah $26m), he’s worth more than the remaining nine.
Kenan Yıldız, McKennie’s teammate at Juventus, is listed at $94m.
Turkish frustration
Two losses, no goals. But it’s not for a lack of trying.
Stats from Fotmob:
Game 1 vs. Australia: 30 shots, 8 shots on target, 1.36 xG
Game 2 vs. Paraguay: 32 shots, 5 shots on target, 2.17 xG
Against Paraguay, they completed 559 passes to Paraguay’s 96.
Alex, I know a few former Secret Service agents. I’ll put in a good word for you.
Alexander Abnos
A good amount of Secret Service agents are set up at the front of the VIP boxes down on the 100 level. Security is fairly tight; a lot of suspicious looks if you’re not a ticket holder (which I’m obviously not). Unsurprising, since Kamala Harris and Second Lady Usha Vance are expected to be in attendance tonight.
Questions for readers:
1. Who’s your favorite all-time Turkey player? Mine: Hakan Şükür, “the Bull of the Bosphorus.”
2. What’s your least favorite ad that’s shown during Cup coverage? Mine: The one with Alex Morgan sniffing about how her goal celebration against England was overblown, but I was one of the critics, so maybe I’m a little biased.
3. Do you raid the fridge during hydration breaks, and what do you get? Mine: More caffeine-free diet soda.
If you’d prefer to follow a game that has qualification for the next round at stake, please join Jonathan Howcroft for Australia-Paraguay coverage.
But you know you can have multiple tabs open, right? If you’re on the mobile app, just set your browser to whichever game you don’t have on the app, and you can hop back and forth.
Kudos to Jonathan for mentioning the ever-entertaining Jose Luis Chilavert.
Mary Waltz writes:
I am so happy and proud of the USMNT performance so far. It has been so much better than I expected. I understand why Poch is doing the believe routine. But really folks, Spain, France, Argentina even Portugal and England are a step above us in quality. We would probably have to beat at least 2 of those team to win the trophy. I just can’t see it.
Yeah, but the USA always beat or draw England in the World Cup, and England have a thing about going to penalties.
My Bracketology has France over Argentina in the final and Spain over England in the third-place game. But I could just as easily see Mexico over England in the round of 16.
If you’d like to tinker with possible matchups, give it a shot …
Alexander Abnos
The seats are filling in here at Los Angeles Stadium, and it’s definitely a boisterous atmosphere. However, there’s no escaping that the distinct lack of tension. The US are through as group winners, the fans know it, and Pochettino’s lineup indicates as much.
Starting XIs: Nine changes for USA
And yet, there’s no Pulisic. The only holdovers from the Australia game are Weston McKennie, who gets the captain’s armband, and Ricardo Pepi, who deputized for the injured Pulisic.
Turkey make seven changes, noted in italics below.
USA: Turner; Trusty, Robinson, McKenzie, Scally; Reyna, McKennie, Berhalter; Pepi, Aaronson, Weah
Turkey: Çakır; Çelik, Elmali, Bardakcı, Kabak; Özcan, Kökçü; Güler, Yıldız, Alper Yılmaz, Aydin
Topic A: Could the USA really win this?
The USA’s bright start has awakened an unusual feeling in the country of 342 million or so people. Optimism.
It’s not just that they’ve won their first two games. It’s that they’ve done so convincingly while most of the typical tournament favorites have faltered. Spain drew with Cape Verde. England couldn’t break down Ghana.
But France and Argentina have looked quite good as well. So have another host nation, Mexico.
Here’s the funny thing – the USA will likely avoid all those teams for a while.
In the round of 32, they’ll face a team that finished third in their group – at this stage, most likely Bosnia. Win that, and they’ll face either the winner of Group G (likely Egypt, but potentially Iran – yes, Iran) or another third-place team. The most likely quarterfinal matchup would be against Spain – a favorite, yes, but again, the team that drew Cape Verde.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the bracket, Mexico may face England in the round of 16. France will likely need to go through Germany and the Netherlands to get to the semifinals.
The 48-team format has been vindicated somewhat by the minnows’ inspiring performances. But the draw has been quirky, to say the least.
Not the USA will mind if they cruise to the quarterfinals. But that’s not at all guaranteed. As well as this team have played, they could lose to Bosnia. Or Egypt. (Can you imagine Iran?)
Also seeking a spot in the knockout rounds …
… is our referee, Mustapha Ghorbal. He and fellow Algerians Mokrane Gourari and Abbes Akram Zerhouni are the on-field crew.
The UAE contributes fourth official Omar Al Ali and reserve official Mohammed Alhammadi.
Staring into the TV like the family in Poltergeist will be VAR official Antonio Garcia of Uruguay, joined in the room by Mahmoud Ashour (Egypt) and Juan Lara (Chile).
The USA already suffered a setback in the round of 32 sweepstakes today when Tori Penso was involved in two questionable calls in the Ecuador-Germany game. Earlier, she had done a fantastic job with the Czechia-South Africa game. Armando Villarreal was the subject of one of the more colorful officiating critiques of this tournament, with Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz saying the US ref must have gone for coffee instead of recommending a review of a potential foul when England’s Ezri Konzi clattered into Prince Adu in the penalty area.
Ismail Elfath made it to the round of 16 in 2022. He takes the whistle for the second time in this Cup when Uruguay and Spain meet in a game most casual observers have surely circled as one to watch.
Ghorbal is also on his second game. He gave four yellow cards in Scotland’s 1-0 win over Haiti.
Oh, and the other thing to watch: Oh. As in Peter Oh and what witticism he will contribute.
We also must consider the Golden Boot race, in which Own Goal is the runaway leader. I understand Liverpool are now offering 100 million Euros but aren’t sure where to wire the money.
Preamble
Let’s begin with a quick look at what’s at stake …
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OK, now that we’ve finished with that, let’s talk about some things to watch:
1. Is Christian Pulisic actually healthy now? That might not be answered in this game, but a good 45-60 minutes would reassure some fans.
2. Will we see the Great Gio Reyna Breakout Game? The controversies of years past seem far behind.
3. Mauricio Pochettino is expected to make his four players on yellow cards sit out. Those players are arguably the most important four players on the roster – left back Antonee Robinson, center back Chris Richards, midfield cornerstone Tyler Adams and striker Folarin Balogun. Those players will undoubtedly be back in the round of 32, but will anyone step up to claim a spot as the first person off the bench?
4. Will we get an angry Turkey determined to get something out of this Cup, or will we see a team that’s just ready to get to LAX and board the plane out of town?
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s a briefing from Graham Ruthven’s daily watch guide on what to know about this Group D matchup:
What to watch for
Few teams have progressed through their opening two matches of this World Cup more comfortably than the USA. On paper, Thursday’s encounter with Turkey looked to be their biggest test when Group D was drawn. With Turkey already out, though, it’s unclear what this match will hold.
Turkey’s early elimination from the tournament was a shock, especially considering Vincenzo Montella’s team are ranked 11th out of 48 sides for expected goals (xG) and 10th for big chances created. They could take out some pent-up anger on the co-hosts in Los Angeles before heading home.
Player to watch: Ricardo Pepi, USA – Pochettino could rotate his lineup for a dead-rubber and start Ricardo Pepi, giving the PSV forward an opportunity to make his mark and prove why he should be ahead of Folarin Balogun in the pecking order.
Fonte do Artigo
See more: The Global Track
