The United States Men’s National Team will host Turkey at Rentschler Field in Hartford this Saturday for a friendly international, marking their first encounter in over a decade. Both sides enter the match with distinct objectives as they build towards future competitions.
The USMNT, under head coach Mauricio Pochettino, is looking to rebound after a fourth-place finish at the CONCACAF Nations League in March, where they fell 2-1 to Canada in the bronze medal match.
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This marked the first time the Americans failed to reach the podium in that competition, and Pochettino’s tenure has seen recent struggles, with the team facing the prospect of a third consecutive defeat for only the second time in less than a year.
The former Tottenham and Chelsea boss has just over a year to fine-tune his squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which the USA will co-host. Historically, the U.S. has a strong record at Rentschler Field, suffering only one defeat in seven previous outings, winning four. They’ve also secured 2-1 victories in their last two meetings with Turkey on American soil.
Meanwhile, Turkey arrives in Hartford on the back of a strong showing in the UEFA Nations League, earning promotion to League A with a dominant 6-1 aggregate playoff victory over Hungary in March.
Vincenzo Montella’s side enters this contest having lost just one of their last eight matches across all competitions, scoring 16 goals in that impressive run. The “Crescent Stars” also have an opportunity to secure consecutive away victories for the first time since June of last year.
Their next major objective is to qualify for the 2026 World Cup – a tournament they haven’t graced since their third-place finish in 2002. Turkey’s historical record against CONCACAF opponents this century includes just one victory: a 2-1 win against the US in the now-defunct FIFA Confederations Cup in France.
Team News & Lineup Projections
The USMNT will be without several key players for this friendly. Forward Folarin Balogun is sidelined with an ankle injury, ruling him out for both this match and the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte is managing an oblique issue, while Antonee Robinson has a minor knee problem, and Yunus Musah withdrew for personal reasons. Additionally, star attacker Christian Pulisic requested time off after a demanding season with AC Milan.
The match could see several players earn their first national team caps, including Quinn Sullivan, Damion Downs, Sebastian Berhalter, Nathan Harriel, Alexander Freeman, Matt Freese, and Chris Brady. Patrick Agyemang, who scored the lone goal in their recent loss to Canada, will be playing in his hometown of East Hartford.
Possible USA Starting Lineup: Turner; Dest, Richards, Ream, Arfsten; Adams, de la Torre; Cardoso, Wright, Aaronson; Agyemang
For Turkey, manager Vincenzo Montella has called up six uncapped players for this friendly, providing opportunities for new talent to impress.
These include Mustafa Erhan Hekimoglu, Demir Ege Tiknaz, Mustafa Eskihellac, Yasin Ozcan, Berke Ozer, and Muhammed Sengezer. Veteran captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu is just three appearances shy of reaching 100 caps for his country, while he and Cenk Tosun are each one goal away from matching Tuncay Sanli for third on Turkey’s all-time scoring list.
In their previous match, Abdulkerim Bardakci, Arda Güler, and Çalhanoğlu all found the back of the net, with Uğurcan Çakır making two saves to secure a clean sheet.
Possible Turkey Starting Lineup: Çakır; Müldür, Akaydin, Söyüncü, Eskihellac; Çalhanoğlu, Özcan; Yılmaz, Güler, Tiknaz; Yıldız
