Pochettino's Bold Rotation Ends in Late Loss to Turkey

Mauricio Pochettino has spent 18 months kicking at the walls of convention with the U.S. national team. On Thursday night, the walls kicked back.

Deep into stoppage time, with the game drifting toward a draw and the Americans’ unbeaten World Cup start intact, Kaan Ayhan stabbed home a loose ball in a crowded box to give Turkey a 3-2 win — its only victory of the tournament, and one that arrived with its very last touch of this World Cup.

For Pochettino, it was the bill for a bold gamble.

Rotation, risk, and a late sting

With the U.S. already assured of a place in the knockout rounds, the coach went all in on rotation. Nine changes from the side that had steamrolled Paraguay and Australia. Bench emptied. Minutes spread. In total, 21 different players started across the three group games; when Alejandro Zendejas came on in the 76th minute, he became the 23rd American to appear at this World Cup. Both marks are new U.S. records.

This was Pochettino at full tilt: experiment, challenge, push. Treat a group finale not as a formality, but as a live-fire exercise for the round of 32.

The cost was immediate. The reward may not be clear until Wednesday.

“We are first,” Pochettino said afterward. “Now it is the next stage and it is going to be a final. And we are ready. We are much better than before that game because we had players now with 90 minutes in their legs and performing and really to help if we need from the beginning or after from the bench. It’s all positive. And I am so positive and I am happy.”

The table backs him up. The scoreboard, less so.

A dream start, a rude response

For a few breathless minutes, the rotation looked like another masterstroke.

Barely three minutes in, Auston Trusty — a surprise starter making his first World Cup start — smashed the U.S. in front with the second-fastest goal in the country’s World Cup history. Sebastian Berhalter, also starting his first World Cup match, whipped in a deep, right-footed corner. Trusty killed it with one touch, then lashed a left-footed shot from the far edge of the six-yard box, threading it between Ugurcan Cakir and the near post.

Pochettino’s gamble was purring. The crowd roared. The U.S. had scored early in all three group games; this felt like another procession in the making.

Turkey had other ideas.

In the 10th minute, Arda Guler slipped away from Mark McKenzie, ghosting into the penalty area to meet a pass from Kenan Yildiz. One touch, then a left-footed lift over Matt Turner. First shot he’d faced all tournament. First goal the U.S. had conceded. First time they’d surrendered a lead.

The second shot didn’t go much better.

On 31 minutes, Eren Elmali drove a low ball into the six-yard box. Orkun Kokcu met it and redirected it past Turner, flipping the night on its head and handing the U.S. its first deficit of the World Cup. The chippy edge Turkey had carried from the opening whistle now had a scoreline to match.

Berhalter steps up, Pulisic returns

The U.S. needed a response and found it, again, from Berhalter.

Four minutes into the second half, a set piece broke loose at the top of the box. The ball spilled out, begging for someone to stay calm. Berhalter did. He steadied himself, swung through with his right foot, and skipped a shot just inside the near post to level the game at 2-2.

“The ball just popped out and I knew if I just stayed calm and just made a swing motion, that I had a chance,” he said. “You practice those a lot and to see that go in was awesome.”

A goal and an assist on his first World Cup start. On a night of heavy rotation, he looked anything but a fringe piece.

Ten minutes later, the energy in the stadium shifted again. Christian Pulisic, out since the first half of the opener with a left calf issue, stepped onto the pitch. His introduction changed the temperature immediately.

Operating off the left, Pulisic tore into space and carved out three dangerous chances in quick succession. He drove at defenders, slipped passes into the box, and reminded everyone why he remains the face of this team.

The problem? No finish. No final touch. The chances went begging, and the game stayed on edge.

Ayhan’s dagger and a lingering question

When you leave a door open at this level, someone usually walks through it.

Deep into stoppage time, with the U.S. pinned back and Turkey refusing to fade, the ball bounced loose in front of Turner’s goal. Ayhan, hemmed in by three American defenders, reacted quickest in the scramble and forced it over the line.

3-2. Tournament over for Turkey, statement made all the same.

For the U.S., it was a gut punch. Not catastrophic — top spot in the group was already secured — but jarring all the same for a team that had cruised through its first two matches.

“You can always take these things as fuel, having that moment in the last one where they score,” Brenden Aaronson said. “It’s tough. We wanted to walk away with no losses in the group stage. But it was still a fantastic group stage.

“Not worried whatsoever. We’re going to move on to the next one and be ready to go for Bosnia.”

Berhalter echoed the sense that the wider picture matters more than one late lapse.

“We know everyone’s ready to step up at any moment,” he said. “I think you saw that today. We let some moments get away from us, but I thought the performances overall were good.

“It’s every little kid’s dream across the United States of America to play in a home World Cup, and just in a World Cup in general. People made their debuts today, so congratulations everyone. This is what everybody looks forward to.”

Momentum or mileage?

That’s the debate now. Did Pochettino sacrifice momentum for mileage, rhythm for depth?

His view is clear: this was an investment. Ninety minutes in the legs of squad players, competitive debuts banked, Pulisic back on the field, records set for rotation and involvement. A group stretched, not just a team.

Turkey, playing at a World Cup for the first time since 2002 and already eliminated after two defeats, played like a side with nothing left to lose and plenty of frustration to vent. They kicked, they harried, they fought for every loose ball. On their final kick of the tournament, they finally got their win.

For the U.S., the real judgment comes next.

They head to Santa Clara at 2-1-0, group winners, to face Bosnia and Herzegovina — the third-place side from Group B — in a round-of-32 tie that Pochettino has already framed as a final.

He has turned the unconventional into a way of life with this team. On Wednesday, we find out if that daring edge is the making of a deep World Cup run, or the flaw that brings it to a halt.