Turkey grabs a last-second winner to give USA its first defeat of the World Cup

By Kyle Feldscher, CNN

Inglewood, California (CNN) — Turkey stunned the USA with a goal in the final seconds, handing the Americans a 3-2 defeat in their final game before the knockout rounds of the World Cup.

After waltzing past Paraguay and seeing off Australia in Seattle, the match against Turkey marked the first real time the Americans had faced adversity in this World Cup. After opening the scoring in the third minute, the US’ suspect defense allowed Turkey to score twice in the first half – the first two goals the Turks scored in the tournament despite firing more than 60 shots in their opening games.

The Turks turned up the pressure in the final seconds, with Kaan Ayhan slipping the ball past a desperately defending US squad and sending the sellout crowd at SoFi Stadium home shocked.

The game was a back-and-forth affair that has presented the Americans with a stern challenge in their final game before the win-or-go-home Round of 32 next week. With the Turks having been eliminated a week ago, the US rolled out a heavily changed lineup that featured one starter from the opening match against Paraguay almost two weeks ago.

The match got off to the best possible start for the US, scoring the game’s opening goal in just two minutes but Turkey has tied things up.

The US was on the front foot from the opening kick, earning a corner kick in the opening minute of the match that led to a scramble in the box that nearly ended up with the ball in the back of the net.

It instead led to a second corner from Sebastian Berhalter that fell to Auston Trusy at the far post. The defender had plenty of time to power a shot past Turkish keeper Baris Alper Yilmaz for the opening goal. It was his first international goal and he peeled off in wild celebration toward the US bench as the heavily pro-USA crowd went bananas.

It didn’t take long for the Turks to even things up, as Arda Güler found himself open in front of American keeper Matt Turner’s goal. Two passes from the Turks unlocked a leaky US defense and left Turner exposed, and Güler made no mistake as he fired the equalizer home just 10 minutes into the match.

The game settled down in the following minutes as both teams found a rhythm before the hydration break, which was met with boos from the crowd in SoFi Stadium.

In the 29th minute, the USA thought they had a second goal as Tim Weah pounded in a loose ball off a corner kick, but the goal was ruled out for offsides.

It took almost no time for the Turks to sail down the pitch and cut the US defense wide open, with Orkun Kökçü finishing off a flowing move with a goal past a helpless Turner. The goal finished off a brilliant passage as the Turks pinged the ball around the USA’s defense, which has been an issue for the team in the lead up to the tournament despite keeping a clean sheet last time out against Australia.

The goals from Turkey came on their first two shots of the game. In their opening matches against Australia and Paraguay, the Turks fired off 62 shots and couldn’t find the back of the net.

The second half began with the US looking for an answer and they found one in the 49th minute.

A long throw from defender Mark McKenzie went into the box and was headed down by a Turkish defender. The ball bounced to Weston McKennie, whose shot was blocked. It rolled to Berhalter, setting up nicely for the midfielder to fire a shot from the edge of the box past a sprawling Yilmaz for the Americans’ second goal of the game.

The second half hydration break came at a poor time for the Americans as the introduction of Christian Pulisic, returning from injury after missing last week’s game against Paraguay, introduced a spark for the US.

Pulisic helped create two chances quickly, including a shot that hit the post off a tipped save from Yilmaz.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino made three second-half substitutions that beefed up the US lineup, sending in Sergiño Dest, Alex Freeman and attacker Alejandro Zendejas. Just after their introduction, falling Pulisic nearly scored a wonderful goal with a curling shot from the edge of the box that only went inches wide.

As the clocked ticked past the 80th minute, the Turkish side looked to finally have found their footing in a second half dominated by the USA. Turner was forced into one save and a shot from the edge of the box by Kökçü a little while later sailed over the bar.

A worrying moment came as the clock ran down when Trusty attempted to play a cross into the box and landed awkwardly. His ankle appeared to buckle when he hit the turf, and he immediately began slapping at the field in pain.

He was able to get up and walk off the field under his own power, waving off the stretcher that had come onto the field for him. He returned after receiving some additional treatment on the sideline.

As the clock ticked down into the seven minutes of allotted extra time, it was the Turks who were pushing the hardest for a winner. A floating ball from the edge of the box fell to Can Uzun, who was patient as Turner charged toward him. His shot went through Turner’s legs but was turned away by a sprawling Freeman.

The ball fell directly to Ayhan, who made no mistake. The goal ended up being the last kick of the game, as the referee blew for full-time right as the USA was readying to restart the match.

Pulisic back in the lineup

The USA got a boost from the return of Pulisic after he sat out the second group match against Australia last week.

The attacking midfielder suffered a kick in his calf a few days before the opening match against Paraguay and played through the opening 45 minutes of the tournament, not feeling much pain thanks to adrenaline.

Pulisic told reporters on Wednesday that the pain from the injury – a contusion or strain, he said – came out during halftime and the decision was made, with the US up by three goals at that point, to sit the rest of the game. A race to get fit before the second game was ultimately not done in time, but Pulisic said Wednesday he’s feeling good and hoping to play.

The lineup released ahead of the game showed Pulisic was available as a substitute and he made his entrance to huge cheers in the 58th minute.

It’s one change among many that Pochettino made for Thursday night’s game – there were nine players in the starting lineup who were not starting against Australia, with only Ricardo Pepi and Weston McKennie being brought back for Turkey.

Players like Chris Richards, Tyler Adams, Folarin Balogun and Antonee Robinson have all been shown yellow cards so far in this tournament and receiving another yellow would mean being suspended for the Round of 32 match on July 1.

Pochettino said it wasn’t worth the risk to lose one of those players.

“It’s unnecessary to take a risk and then take another yellow card and be not available for the next stage,” he said, “and I think that is a little bit normal and easy answer in the beginning.”

What comes next

That next stage is looming. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s win over Qatar on Wednesday has set the stage for the Zmajevi, as it stands, to be the US’ opponent next week in Santa Clara at Levi’s Stadium when the knockout rounds commence.

The expanded World Cup, combined with the US’ status as a host nation and the dominant performances in the opening two games, has allowed prognosticators to map out a route for the US through the knockout rounds. The United States has won a grand total of one knockout round game in its history at the world’s biggest sporting showcase – and it’s been 24 years since that happened.

This is a breaking story and is being updated.

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