Pulisic, Pepi and Balogun Lift USA Ahead of World Cup

The United States men's national team defeated Senegal in a World Cup warm-up match, with Christian Pulisic ending a goal drought stretching beyond six months for the national team and strikers Ricardo Pepi and Folarin Balogun each contributing to the scoreline. The performance, marked by a high-pressing system installed by head coach Mauricio Pochettino, offered the clearest indication yet of how the squad intends to approach the tournament.

Pulisic, the captain and primary creative force for the United States, added an assist before rounding the goalkeeper and slotting home the team's second goal inside the opening 20 minutes. Pepi, starting at center-forward, played a direct role in both early goals, with his movement creating space along the left flank for teammates Pulisic and Antonee Robinson. Balogun, who came on at halftime as part of a wholesale change to the lineup - Sebastián Berhalter was the sole player to appear in both halves - scored in the second period and posed a persistent threat inside the penalty area. Pochettino fielded what amounted to two separate squads across the two halves, with ten changes made at the interval.

The performance reinforced the striker position as a relative strength entering the tournament, a contrast to the situation the United States faced at the 2022 World Cup, when the role was considered uncertain. Pulisic spoke after the match about the fast start - two goals in the first 20 minutes - as a source of confidence heading into the team's final pre-tournament friendly, against Germany, and then the competition itself. The pressing intensity Pochettino demands was evident from the opening whistle, though the coaching staff audibly pushed the squad to sustain it through the closing stages of each half, with Senegal finding the net late in the first period and coming close to scoring again near the end of the second.

Game management in the final minutes of each half emerged as the primary area requiring improvement before the tournament begins. Maintaining defensive concentration while continuing to press - rather than retreating - is the balance Pochettino is demanding, and those closing stages against Senegal illustrated both the challenge and the cost of losing focus. The United States' next fixture, a friendly against Germany, represents the final preparation before the World Cup opens.