The United States will attempt to extend the positive run that secured them top place in World Cup Group D when they meet Turkey in the final group match at Los Angeles Stadium on Thursday. The Americans opened their campaign with back-to-back wins, most recently a 2-0 success over Australia in Seattle on Friday, a game that ended with a sold-out crowd singing John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads."
Turkey's campaign, by contrast, effectively ended earlier when they were beaten 1-0 by Paraguay in Santa Clara, a result that left them scoreless for a second successive match in a tournament that has exposed issues with finishing.
While the fixture is, in competitive terms, largely a dead rubber, United States coach Mauricio Pochettino still faces selection dilemmas. Forward Folarin Balogun, midfielder Tyler Adams and defenders Chris Richards and Antonee Robinson all carry yellow cards. Under tournament rules, any player booked twice across the three group-stage matches is suspended for the next game, which has made Pochettino likely to rest or curtail the minutes of those four ahead of the U.S. opening knockout game on July 1 in Santa Clara.
That management imperative could open the door for squad players to make their case for more regular involvement, and it also gives the coach a chance to carefully manage the workload of his most influential attacker, Christian Pulisic.
Pulisic has not featured since being substituted at halftime of the opener against Paraguay with a left calf problem, though he returned to full team training this week. Ricardo Pepi started in his place against Australia, and Pochettino must now determine whether to reintroduce Pulisic for minutes against Turkey or to hold him back as a precautionary measure ahead of the knockout stage.
The United States squad has signaled a desire to keep standards high despite having already advanced. "You don’t want to go into a knockout round having a bad feeling about how the last game went," winger Max Arfsten said. "So although we have advanced, I don’t think it changes anything in terms of preparation or mentality. It’s very important to try and continue to ride the wave of good performance."
The team have experience of the pitfalls of complacency: at the 2002 World Cup, after securing progression, the United States lost 3-1 to an already-eliminated Poland side in their final group match, a reminder that results in dead-rubber games can still have adverse effects.
Turkey, making their first World Cup appearance in 24 years, arrive at Los Angeles Stadium desperate to avoid leaving the tournament without a win or even a goal. For a squad that entered the competition with high hopes, defeating the co-hosts would not reverse their early exit, but it would provide a measure of consolation for supporters and players alike.
Match management, player fitness and discipline will determine how both teams approach the fixture. For the United States, the priority is preserving the availability of key contributors for the knockout phase, while Turkey will be seeking to salvage pride in their return to football's biggest stage.