The USMNT lost 3-2 to Turkiye in Christian Pulisic's return coming off the bench. While many countries were still fighting for the final places in the next round of the 2026 World Cup, the USMNT already knew their position while Turkiye were already eliminated. It was a great match in which Turkiye won on the final play, ruining Christian Pulisic’s return. In the first half, the USMNT started very strong with an early goal by Auston Trusty. However, Turkiye managed to come back with a quick Arda Güler goal before Orkun Kökçü scored to make it 2-1 for Turkiye. In the second half, the USMNT went out motivated and levelled the match with a good goal by Sebastian Berhalter. A key moment for the team was the inclusion from the bench of Pulisic in the 58th minute after leaving at halftime of the first match. That momentum was ruined by Kaan Ayhan’s late goal in the final moments of the match.