In their first friendly in more than a decade against Turkey, the USMNT will be coming into the game after a disappointing fourth-place finish in the Concacaf Nations League, after losing 2-1 to Canada. On the other hand, the Turks were promoted to League A of the UEFA Nations League.
USMNT under pressure after Nations League disappointment
Mauricio Pochettino is already under a lot of pressure at the helm after the USMNT failed to reach the Nations League podium for the first time in the competition's history. In addition, the former Tottenham and Chelsea coach has suffered two consecutive defeats and is in danger of having his streak extended given his opponents' favoritism.
It's worth noting that the United States have won every international match in which they have scored at least two goals. Another important factor to make fans more confident is the good record at the Rentschler Stadium, with only one defeat in eight games played.
Folarin Balogun is out of the USA squad for this friendly and the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup, Patrick Schulte is dealing with an oblique injury, Antonee Robinson has a minor knee problem and Yunus Musah has been withdrawn from the squad for personal reasons.
Turkey on a roll and seeking a place in the next World Cup
To avoid a third straight defeat, the USA will need to overcome Vicenzo Montella's Turkey, who led a successful B League campaign that ended with a 6-1 thrashing of Hungary in the playoffs, easily securing their promotion to face some of the world's best teams in the next World Cup cycle.
And qualifying for the 2026 World Cup is Turkey's main objective at the moment, with the team having lost just one of their last eight matches in all competitions. In that time, a remarkable 16 goals have been scored in all, and if they win away from home, it will be their first such run since June last year.
Montella has called up six debutants for this friendly: Mustafa Erhan Hekimoglu, Demir Ege Tiknaz, Mustafa Eskihellac, Yasin Ozcan, Berke Ozer and Muhammed Sengezer. But the highlight is Hakan Calhanoglu, who needs just three more games to reach the 100th game milestone.