LOS ANGELES STADIUM – U.S. men’s national team manager Mauricio Pochettino has made nine changes to his starting lineup for the group stage finale against Türkiye on Thursday night.
It’s the most adjustments a USA team has ever made between two World Cup matches. The previous high was five between the Germany and Iran games at the 1998 tournament.
Midfielder Weston McKennie – who will captain the squad – and striker Ricardo Pepi are the only holdovers from the 2-0 win vs. Australia.
The modifications are necessary for a few reasons. For one, Pochettino is sitting four regular starters – midfielder Tyler Adams, striker Folarin Balogun, defender Chris Richards, and fullback Antonee “Jedi” Robinson – because they all have one yellow card and the manager does not want to risk them accumulating a second and therefore being suspended for the round of 32 match.
Second, the Americans have already clinched their place in the knockout round and this is an opportunity to get some fresh legs on the pitch and give other guys some much-needed rest.
Folarin Balogun will not start for the USA vs. Türkiye to not risk getting another yellow card (Getty Images)
Defenders Mark McKenzie and Miles Robinson will make their World Cup debuts, while forward Brenden Aaronson and goalkeeper Matt Turner will see their first minutes of this tournament. Cristian Roldan is not available due to a quadricep issue that he’s been dealing with all week.
The most head-scratching decision is that Turner will start in goal over Matt Freese, who only has 17 caps. It was widely thought that Pochettino would make significant changes to the lineup, but he would likely keep Freese in goal to get more reps playing in a World Cup. Turner started all four matches for the U.S. at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but was unseated by Freese ahead of last summer’s Gold Cup.
The other major question entering this match will be whether star forward Christian Pulisic will play. Pulisic sat out the 2-0 win over Australia after having suffered a calf injury in the 4-1 victory over Paraguay.
“I’m feeling good,” Pulisic said on Wednesday at practice. “I’ve obviously joined the team in the last few days, so I’m feeling good, positive going into it, and hopefully I’ll be able to play a part tomorrow.”
The U.S., winner of Group D, is aiming to finish with a perfect record in the group stage. After Thursday’s match, it will play next in the round of 32 on July 1 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The projected opponent for that game is Bosnia and Herzegovina, who finished in third place in Group A. That has yet to be officially confirmed.
