INGLEWOOD, Calif. - As expected, U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Mauricio Pochettino has rolled out a heavily rotated squad for tonight’s FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage finale against Türkiye at Los Angeles Stadium. With the group already won by the Stars and Stripes, Pochettino is set to make nine changes from last Friday’s victory against Australia—the most ever for the U.S. between two World Cup matches.
The lone holdovers from last week’s match are forward Ricardo Pepi and midfielder Weston McKennie. McKennie—who will face his longtime Juventus teammate Kenan Yıldız for the first time—will captain the Stars and Stripes for the fourth time in his nearly decade-long USMNT career and the first time since a 2022–23 Concacaf Nations League match against Grenada in June 2022. McKennie is the 15th USMNT player to captain the United States in a World Cup match.
Goalkeeper Matt Turner—who started all four of the USMNT’s four matches at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar—will earn his 55th cap just a day following his 32nd birthday. After two appearances by Matt Freese to open this year’s tournament, Turner’s start tonight marks the second time that the USMNT has deployed two goalkeepers in a single World Cup (1930). Turner is also the fifth USMNT goalkeeper to start a match in multiple World Cups.
On the backline, defenders Mark McKenzie and Miles Robinson will make their World Cup debuts. Of the starting XI, McKenzie and Robinson are the only players to have appeared in the non-official match against Türkiye last year in East Hartford, Conn.
Rounding out the starting lineup, Brenden Aaronson, Sebastian Berhalter, Mark McKenzie, Gio Reyna, Miles Robinson, Joe Scally and Auston Trusty are set to make their first World Cup starts.
Per Opta, the USMNT’s nine changes to its starting XI from the win over Australia is the third-most from match to match in World Cup history. Only Spain in 2006 (11 vs. Saudi Arabia), Belgium in 2018 (10 vs. Japan) and Brazil in 2022 (10 vs. Korea Republic) have made more changes match-to-match in a single World Cup.
Additionally, the USMNT’s 21 different starters in the group stage of this year's World Cup leads all teams. It’s the most the Stars and Stripes have ever used in the group stage of a single World Cup since 17 in 1998.
Despite the rotation, Pochettino is committed to closing the group stage out with three more points.
“When you defend your jersey, your flag, your culture, it’s always about pride,” he said at Wednesday’s press conference. “I have no doubt that the Turkish team is going to be competitive tomorrow. They have good players. Of course, they are eliminated, but I think it’s going to be a tough game. We’re not thinking that it’s going to be a game that’s going to be easy.
“We want to win. We want to arrive to the next stage with three victories.”
