Six Goals, Two Wins: How the USA Found Their Identity at the World Cup

Mauricio Pochettino went into this World Cup with decisions to make. There was a first-choice goalkeeper debate, uncertainty at centre-back, and nobody quite knew what shape the United States were going to play.

Two games in, the answers are clear. Matt Freese in goal. A back three. Six goals scored. Top spot in Group D all but secured.

Pochettino went with a 3-4-3 in the opening win over Paraguay, then tweaked to a 3-5-2 when Christian Pulisic missed the 2-0 win over Australia — Ricardo Pepi came in as a second No 9, and the attacking patterns barely missed a beat.

This is not the same USMNT that struggled with a 4-2-3-1 throughout 2025, losing to Mexico in the Gold Cup final and falling in the CONCACAF Nations League to Panama and Canada. That team was trying to fit players into a system. This one has found a system that fits its players.

The System and Why It Works

The 3-4-3 was trialled in September 2025 in friendly matches against Japan and Ecuador. Pochettino explained his thinking at the time: “I think we have players that play in this new formation. I think it’s good to have different plans and approaches to the games, to use different formations.”

The evidence from those pre-tournament tests was encouraging. In late May, the USMNT was incisive and effective against Senegal — fresh from winning the Africa Cup of Nations — with Dest and Pulisic scoring first-half goals before Balogun came off the bench to win a levelled game.

At this tournament, the system has worked because it platforms the strengths and masks the weaknesses of its standout individuals.

Balogun: Built for This Role

Folarin Balogun is tasked with making channel runs and being a box threat — the two things his promising Ligue 1 career has been built on. The system gives him exactly the kinds of movements he has developed at club level, applied within a World Cup team framework.

Dest and Robinson: Attackers in Wide Positions

Sergiño Dest and Antonee Robinson play high and essentially as attackers, meaning Dest’s defensive limitations are minimised while Robinson gets to make his trademark overlapping runs. For Pulisic, that combination works excellently — he mostly wants to come inside and act as a No 10, and having a runner outside takes defenders away when he chooses to dribble.

The USA had 39 take-ons in the Paraguay win — the most by any team in a single game at this tournament. That directness starts from the system giving wide players the freedom to attack.

McKennie: The Half-Space Operator

The system lets Weston McKennie make the attacking runs in the half-space that he relishes. His dart into the channel, working in tandem with Dest, was one of the more effective attacking combinations in both matches.

Ream and Richards: Protected in a Three

Tim Ream is better protected at centre-back within a three — though he was caught out once against Australia, unsuccessfully attempting an offside trap that let Nestory Irankunda race in behind.

Chris Richards is the standout central defender. Critically, he plays in a 3-4-3 every week at Crystal Palace, making the international system a natural extension of his club environment. Across two World Cup matches, Richards has completed 175 of his 179 passes — a remarkable accuracy figure that reflects both his quality and his comfort within the structure.

How Australia Was Beaten

Against Australia — who defended in a compact 5-4-1 that matched the USA up in central spaces — the damage came through smart combinations and rotations on the wings.

Australia’s wing-backs were instructed to press when the outside USA centre-backs played wide passes. This created space for McKennie’s channel runs, working in tandem with Dest to manipulate the Australian back five. The connection between those two was arguably the match’s defining combination — 41% of the USMNT’s attacking half touches came down the right flank in the first half, nearly nine percent more than the left side.

And yet the opening goal came from the other wing. Tim Ream’s pass to Robinson baited out Australian wing-back Jacob Italiano. Robinson slipped the ball through to Balogun, who had the beating of Alessandro Circati for pace. Once in the box, Balogun looked for Dest or Pepi — his low pass was diverted into the net by Australian defender Cameron Burgess.

An own goal. But the intent, the movement, and the execution were entirely deliberate.

The USMNT is now the first team in FIFA World Cup history to have opponents score own goals in consecutive group games — their opener against Paraguay came from a similar cutback down the left.

The Pulisic Question — and Why It Doesn’t Derail Everything

Pulisic missed the Australia match entirely. The USA won 2-0 and controlled the game from start to finish.

That says something important about how Pochettino has structured this team. Any side built around a single irreplaceable player is fragile. Against Australia, Pepi came in as a second No 9, the shape shifted from 3-4-3 to 3-5-2, and the attacking patterns barely changed. The principles — width from the wing-backs, channel runs, combinations in the half-space, direct threat on goal — remained consistent.

That said, Pulisic clearly elevates this team when fit. Against Paraguay, the first game, his ability to come inside and create gave the attack an additional dimension that pure strikers like Pepi cannot replicate. When Pulisic operates in a 3-4-3 with genuine width outside him, he becomes significantly more dangerous than he ever was in the 4-2-3-1 that the USA struggled with throughout 2025.

The three friendly defeats of 2026 — against Belgium (5-2), Portugal (2-0), and Germany (2-1) — all came in 4-2-3-1 setups. Every competitive success under Pochettino using the back three has been an improvement on those results.

Making History — and Chasing More

The USMNT has hit six goals in two matches at this tournament. One more would match the most goals ever scored by a US team at a men’s World Cup — set in 1930 and 2002.

Those two vintage US years were also when the team progressed furthest. In 1930, they reached the semi-finals. In 2002, they won their last knockout match — beating Mexico in the round of 16 before losing to Germany in the quarter-finals.

The current team is the first US side to win its opening two matches at a World Cup. They have already made history simply by reaching the knockout stages in strong form.

But the history that matters most remains unachieved: the USA have not won a knockout match since 2002. Exiting to the Netherlands in 2022, Belgium in 2014, Ghana in 2010 — the pattern of promising group stages followed by last-16 elimination is the one Pochettino must break.

“Certain factors have to come together to win a World Cup, yes, but we believe,” Pochettino told The Athletic this week.

The Game State Reality

There is an element of game state to acknowledge honestly. In both group matches, the USA scored inside 10 minutes and controlled from an early lead. That simplifies everything — the system, the pressing, the commitment to combination play.

Türkiye in the group finale will present a different challenge. They are higher-quality opposition and the match may not offer an early lead to build from. How the USA deals — tactically and psychologically — with a game that is more in the balance later on will be a critical test of how complete this team really is.

In Pochettino’s 28 matches as US head coach, the team has drawn only twice (winning one on penalties). They have not been in many closely contested matches where the result hung in the balance deep in the second half. Knockout football is, by definition, exactly that — and “you succeed in knockout rounds by not losing.”

The back three offers one answer to that challenge. An additional defender compared to their 2025 approach means greater structural protection when the opponent is strong and the game is tight. But it requires the wing-backs to maintain their defensive responsibilities alongside their attacking ones — and against opponents better than Paraguay and Australia, that balance will be more difficult to maintain.

Pochettino’s Decision-Making Validated

The pre-tournament uncertainties have been resolved, and the resolutions look correct.

Freese in goal has been solid and reliable. The back three has given the team structure that the 4-2-3-1 never quite provided. The wing-back roles have unlocked Dest and Robinson as genuine attacking threats. The half-space combinations involving McKennie have provided consistent danger. And the striker position — whether occupied by Balogun alone or alongside Pepi — has been productive.

Without Pulisic, the system adapts rather than collapses. With Pulisic, the system adds a dimension that few international sides can cope with.

If Patrick Agyemang and Diego Luna had both avoided injury and been part of this tournament, perhaps a different shape would have emerged. In the universe we are in, the 3-4-3 has delivered results, cohesion, and historical milestones.

The real test arrives in the knockout rounds. In all-or-nothing football, the margin for error disappears. Pochettino has built the foundation. Now comes the part that separates tournament campaigns from tournament stories.

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