Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie were probably sleeping soundly in Italy. Several other starters on the U.S. men’s national team were recovering from injuries. And in their absence Tuesday night, the USMNT lost to Mexico for the first time in more than five years — in a game marked by debates over its importance.
On the one hand, it was the United States and Mexicothe CONCACAF Classic, a combustible rivalryand thus a game that both sides insisted on playing to win.
On the other, it was only a friendly, a pre-test with no tangible consequences; and therefore, after Saturday’s victory against Panamathe new American coach Mauricio Pochettino cleared Pulisic, McKennie and three others to return to their clubs.
The result on Tuesday in Zapopan, Mexico, was a 2-0 loss to Sorting – and a performance that, frankly, never looked capable of securing a victory.
“It looked like the U.S. didn’t want to play. It looked like no one wanted the ball,” former USMNT star DaMarcus Beasley said on TNT at halftime. “No one is ready right now to play Mexico in Mexico.”
And midway through the first half, Raúl Jiménez punished their negligence. Passive possession led to a long scoreless American ball and then a foul 25 yards from goal. Jiménez curled the ensuing free kick over an American wall and past goalkeeper Matt Turner, to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
Before this goal, the match had been agitated and relatively balanced. Thereafter, the hosts took and maintained control. The Americans couldn’t muster anything going forward – not even a single shot in the first half. (They finally got a goal on target, in the 79th minute.)
And shortly after halftime, Mexico doubled their lead with a direct attack. Jiménez, a resurgent 33-year-old star, won a back-and-forth with defender Tim Ream, 37, and César Huerta beat Turner to make it 2-0.
For most of the remaining 40 minutes, one-way traffic continued. And American frustration was brewing, as previous iterations of the USMNT had I stood up for this moment. The 2012 team won at the Estadio Azteca. In the next three World Cup cycles, U.S. teams traveled to Mexico City and each earned a point. They had not lost in Mexico since 2009.
And in recent years, they had taken control of the rivalry. The USMNT had won five of its last seven matches against Mexico and drew the other two. He won three consecutive Nations League titles. The United States, for the first time, established himself as the undisputed king of CONCACAF.
That’s part of why eyebrows were raised when US Soccer announced Sunday that Pulisic, McKennie and Ricardo Pepi would not make the trip to Guadalajara.
But Pochettino, in his second week of workhad valid reasons.
McKennie felt unwell last week and reports in Italy suggest he is suffering from muscle fatigue.
Pulisic is not injured, but “he arrived a little tired,” Pochettino said on Friday. “He plays every game, every minute” for AC Milan – which Pochettino said made him and his team “a bit worried”.
So, Pochettino made the type of decision that a lesser coach might not be able to make in his first month in charge of a national team; he played the long game.
Pochettino stressed that “the priority will be to arrive in the best conditions for the World Cup”, as he declared during his introductory press conference. And no friendly absence of 20 months, regardless of the opponent, will have a significant impact on their state in June 2026.
What would have an impact is Pulisic’s fitness. “When we really need him, he has to be fit, happy, strong,” Pochettino said last week. “Because he has enormous talent, he is a fantastic player.”
So he let Pulisic return to Milan, a decision that not only manages his physical and mental load, but also builds trust between the player, the national team and the club.
Pochettino also took out Antonee Robinson, perhaps the USMNT’s second most reliable player, at halftime of Tuesday’s match.
After excluding McKennie from Saturday’s game, he talked about wanting to “protect” McKennie. “We didn’t want to take any risks,” Pochettino said.
He shouldn’t do it either.
But the result — a first defeat against Mexico since 2019 friendlyone of the early low points of the Gregg Berhalter era – was nevertheless difficult to digest.
And the performance was one of the USMNT’s worst in the last two years – especially considering the state of the opponent, a hectic Mexican team, under pressure and in disarray.
This exposed the lack of depth in the American player pool behind Pulisic and McKennie – and Folarin Balogun, Tyler Adams, Tim Weah, Sergiño Dest, Chris Richards and Gio Reyna, who are all injured.
He also pointedly recalled that despite the enthusiasm surrounding Pochettino, the new boss has a lot work to do.