{"id":2001,"date":"2025-11-18T01:47:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T01:47:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=2001"},"modified":"2025-11-18T01:47:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T01:47:16","slug":"road-to-the-world-cup-usas-last-match-of-2025-is-a-key-test-and-familiar-foe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=2001","title":{"rendered":"Road to the World Cup: USA&#039;s Last Match of 2025 is a Key Test and Familiar Foe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            POPULAR SEARCHES\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            BROWSE BY\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>TAMPA \u2014 When it comes to the lowest moments in U.S. men&#8217;s national team history, nothing comes close to the epic failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>But the USMNT&#8217;s loss to Uruguay at the 2024 Copa Am\u00e9rica isn&#8217;t that far behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span>Christian Pulisic and the U.S. struggled against Uruguay in 2024 (Photo by Robin Alam\/ISI Photos\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Let&#8217;s recount that steamy night at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. The Americans needed a win to avoid becoming the first host nation in the history of soccer&#8217;s oldest continental soccer tournament not to qualify for the second round. Not only did they lose their third and final group stage match to <i>La Celeste, <\/i>but the U.S. team failed to muster a single goal and managed just three measly shots on target.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>And in truth, the scoreline flattered the Americans. The gulf in class between the USMNT and the two-time World Cup champs was striking. The U.S. never for a moment looked as though they\u2019d get the win needed and advance to the knockout phase. Ten days later, then-coach Gregg Berhalter paid the price, fired in a decision that should\u2019ve surprised nobody.<\/p>\n<p><span>Gregg Berhalter&#8217;s second stint as the USMNT coach ended with a loss to Uruguay. (Photo by John Dorton\/ISI Photos\/USSF\/Getty Images for USSF)<\/span> <!--&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Fast-forward to now, when new boss Mauricio Pochettino will lead a revamped USMNT squad against Uruguay in both countries\u2019 final match of 2025 at Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With just four more preparation games (two in March, two in June) left before the U.S. co-hosts Soccer's Greatest Show on Earth next summer, the Americans have a golden opportunity to prove that they have improved significantly from that dispiriting night in Missouri last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Tuesday\u2019s contest will tell us plenty about how capable the Americans are of making a deep run on home soil next June and July, when the largest and most sprawling World Cup ever takes center stage across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>\"They're a strong team,\" U.S. defender Mark McKenzie, an unused sub in that Copa Am\u00e9rica loss, told me before the U.S. trained on Monday at the facility of the famed USL club Tampa Bay Rowdies.\u00a0 \"They have quality all over the pitch, and we know that they can hurt you in different ways, whether it's individually, on set pieces, or in transition moments.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span>USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino gets his own Tampa Bay Rowdies jersey. (Photo by Howard Smith\/ISI Photos\/ISI Photos via Getty Images)<\/span> --><\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>With 2022 U.S. World Cup captain Tyler Adams, star forwards Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah and other projected 2026 starters like midfielder Weston McKennie and center-back Chris Richards among the laundry list of Americans missing this month, McKenzie is just one of nine holdovers from Berhalter\u2019s 26-player Copa roster.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Pochettino has played a number of newcomers since being hired in September 2024. The former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur manager has brought in 71 players since his first match on the sidelines last October \u2013 an astounding number considering he can only take 26 men to the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Several have taken huge leaps forward this year, including right back Alex Freeman and central midfielder Tanner Tessmann. While neither was on the Copa squad \u2014 Freeman appeared in just two\u00a0MLS games as an Orlando City rookie last year \u2014 both watched that last meeting between the U.S.\u00a0 and Uruguay from afar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>&#8220;I just remember that it was very scrappy,&#8221; Freeman told reporters on Monday ahead of practice. &#8220;I remember that, in these games, it\u2019s going be aggressive. They&#8217;re going to press. They&#8217;re going to come at you.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>&#8220;Sometimes you&#8217;re not going to keep your head,&#8221; added Freeman. &#8220;You have to be able to just make the best out of it, know that it&#8217;s going to be scrappy. But you\u2019ve got to be even more scrappy if needed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Freeman was that and then some on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Near the end of the USMNT\u2019s 2-1 win over Paraguay in Chester, Pennsylvania, the 6-foot-3 son of Super Bowl-winner and Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer Antonio Freeman was involved in a scuffle that caused both benches to clear.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>&#8220;He&#8217;s so strong,&#8221; Pochettino told reporters on Monday when discussing Freeman. &#8220;He was against three [Paraguayans], and they couldn&#8217;t stop him. It&#8217;s difficult to upset him, but be careful.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span>U.S. men&#8217;s team defender Alex Freeman got into a scrap with the Paraguayan players in Saturday&#8217;s win. (Photo by Drew Hallowell\/Getty Images)<\/span> <!--&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Tessmann said that he and his teammates had discussed the frustrating, disappointing Copa loss to <i>La Celeste<\/i> but declined to get specific.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>\"We've played a lot of matches since, and I think the team has learned from it. We're looking forward to Tuesday,\" Tessman explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Tuesday\u2019s game will be the third time in four outings that the U.S. will face a South American foe. That experience \u2014 they tied Ecuador 1-1 last month in Austin, Texas \u2014 should also help prepare them for a Uruguayan squad that boasts players at top tier European clubs like Tottenham, Barcelona and Manchester United.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Led by famed manager Marcelo Bielsa, who coached a teenage Pochettino in their native Argentina at historic club Newell's Old Boys, Uruguay will no doubt be the toughest test yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Even if the shorthanded U.S. extends its unbeaten run to five games against World Cup-bound foes, the Americans remain a work in progress. Tessmann said that the performance is more important than the result. As much as Pochettino has continued to insist that there\u2019s no such thing as a friendly game for a team preparing to welcome the world to the biggest sporting event ever staged, there are no points at stake until they kick off their World Cup campaign on June 12 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>\"We need to improve a lot,\" Pochettino said.\u00a0\"It's not that we are now so good, and we are so happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>\"I think that we are settled and changing the mindset,\" he continued. \"I think that it is working. For sure, we are going to have time to arrive to the World Cup in our best condition.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Tuesday promises to provide another key data point, one that will reveal exactly how far the Americans have come since mid-2024 \u2014 and how far they still have left to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9><i>Doug McIntyre<\/i><i> is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered\u00a0<\/i><i><u>United States<\/u><\/i><i> men's and women's national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @<\/i><i><u>ByDougMcIntyre<\/u><\/i><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9><i>Want great stories delivered right to your inbox?\u00a0<\/i><i><u>Create or log in to your FOX Sports account<\/u><\/i><i> and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!<\/i><\/p>\n\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY TAMPA \u2014 When it comes to the lowest moments in U.S. men&#8217;s national team history, nothing comes close to the epic failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.\u00a0 But the USMNT&#8217;s loss to Uruguay at the 2024 Copa Am\u00e9rica isn&#8217;t that far behind.\u00a0 Christian Pulisic and the U.S. struggled against [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}