TThe U.S. national team appears to have found its way forward under coach Mauricio Pochettino, who received a lot of criticism from America’s star players after losing to the Mexican national team in the Gold Cup final. However, the Argentine was quick to react ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Mexico and Canada.
The USMNT are currently unbeaten in five games, but tonight they defeated Uruguay 5-1, showing resoluteness against the “old sea dogs” on the bench like Marcelo Bielsa. Uruguay qualified for the 2026 World Cup in fourth place with 28 points, despite missing important players such as Federico Valverde and Darwin Nuñez.
USMNT defeats Uruguay despite key absences
The American team entered the final game of the year without key members of Pochettino’s starting lineup, including Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams, but the coach found a solution to defeat one of CONMEBOL’s powerhouses with a 5-1 scoreline.
The USMNT had a dream first half, with Uruguay in clear sight, scoring four goals: one from Sebastian Berhalter, two from Alex Freeman, and one from Diego Luna. In the second half, they continued to score and found a rhythm in the game, and in the 68th minute, Tanner Tessman’s goal tied the game, ending the year without a loss in five games.
USA ends the year undefeated in five games
Since Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT lost 2-1 to Mexico in the Gold Cup final, they have only lost one 2-0 in six games against South Korea, but since then the Argentine coach has found a formula to make his team work and get them in shape heading into the World Cup. The latest USMNT matches are:
USMNT 5-1 Uruguay USMNT 2-1 Paraguay USMNT 2-1 Australia USMNT 1-1 Ecuador USMNT 2-0 Japan
Although the United States is now out and will find out what happens next in the 2026 World Cup draw on Dec. 5, the most important thing for the team right now is to get the injured players back up and involved in the next round of preparations for the biggest World Cup in history.
