CHICAGO — The U.S. men’s national team wanted to face only tough opponents leading into the World Cup.
As a result, it has lost three of four games going into one of the biggest matches in the program’s history Friday night against Paraguay.
That’s not the be-all and end-all, and Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Germany in front of a sellout crowd at Soldier Field looked a lot different — in a good way — than the USMNT’s pair of losses to Belgium and Portugal back in March.
“I think on any given day we can beat that team if I’m being quite honest with you,” midfielder Tyler Adams said. “That Germany team is an unbelievable team, an unbelievable manager [Julian Nagelsmann], I’ve played under him so I know his philosophy and the way he thinks about the game and a lot of those guys have been together for a really long time as well.
“Whereas I think with us, we’re really starting to hit our stride, and I’m confident with the team we’re playing with.”
Waldemar Anton and Jonathan Tah embrace after the friendly match on June 6, 2026. dpa/picture alliance via Getty I
Indeed, against a side that looked ready to sweep them away early, the Americans showed resilience, had positive stretches of play and were left thinking they could have gotten more.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino said afterward he felt his team deserved a draw, and that didn’t seem unfair.
Nevertheless, the 3 ½-year timer on being able to brush aside losses expired sometime between the final whistle and the USMNT boarding its plane to Orange County on Saturday night.
Next time they lose a game, it’ll be a five-alarm fire no matter how well they play.
And the Americans’ back line — still minus Chris Richards, missing with an ankle injury — remains a major concern.
It wasn’t just on Leroy Sané’s eventual game-winner, where both Miles Robinson and Tim Ream were caught out defending a German throw-in, allowing Sané to slip into space from Kai Havertz’s pass and slot in a finish.
It was also the first German goal, where Robinson was beaten to Joshua Kimmich’s free kick by Havertz easily, mere minutes into the game.
Joshua Kimmich (Germany) and Christian Pulisic (USA) fight for the ball. dpa/picture alliance via Getty I
Beyond the goals, there were just too many times where Ream and Robinson looked without an idea on the ball, or where Germany felt comfortable exploiting either channel, which was left vulnerable with Alex Freeman, Sergiño Dest and Antonee “Jedi” Robinson all given space to go forward.
“There was times where you could see the eagerness in [Germany] to go and press and win the ball back,” Jedi Robinson said. “At times we were a little bit disjointed in how we pressed. That’s what good teams like Germany want to do. They want someone to jump and someone to not follow behind so they can play around it. So I think when we got a bit more comfortable knowing when to press and when to sit back, we were a lot better.”
Pochettino and players alike were quite happy with the response and resilience shown after a disastrous opening 10 minutes, and with an offense that threatened for much of the afternoon.
After Robinson’s volleyed golazo late in the first half, Christian Pulisic was unlucky not to put his team ahead 2-1 early in the second with a pair of shots from short range that were stopped by Oliver Baumann before Malik Tillman’s follow was skied over the bar.
United States left back Antonee Robinson (5) celebrates his goal during a friendly match between the United States and Germany on June 6, 2026, at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Pulisic was a constant threat, Dest continued to play well, and Pochettino’s move to play Tillman in a defensive midfield pivot with Adams — allowing Weston McKennie to move up as an attacking midfielder — had promising returns.
Once Pochettino had pulled all his starters 73 minutes in, the reserves kept pushing to tie it, and could have, with Brenden Aaronson forcing an excellent save out of Baumann in the 87th minute.
“Sometimes when you get punched in the mouth, you gotta stand back up and punch back,” Ream said. “All the guys stepped up. Flying around, tackles, really getting into the 1-v-1 duels. Just making life really difficult after conceding so early.”
Right now, though, the Americans look like they are straddling the line between being a fun team to watch and a team that can truly make a run on home soil.
Next time they take the field, we’ll find out.