RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM (Tampa) — You’re going to the World Cup! And you’re going to the World Cup!
A reserve-heavy U.S. men’s national team ran out to an early lead and never looked back, demolishing two-time world champion Uruguay 5-1 on two goals by Alex Freeman and strikes by three other 2026 roster hopefuls: Sebastian Berhalter, Diego Luna and Tanner Tessmann.
Here are my takeaways:
1. Stunning Win for Shorthanded U.S.
(Photo by Howard Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)
With just two days to rest following Saturday’s 2-1 win over Paraguay just outside of Philadelphia, U.S. men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino made nine changes to a starting lineup that was already missing no fewer than half a dozen projected 2026 World Cup starters.
Meantime, La Celeste boss Marcelo Bielsa did the opposite, bringing in eight regulars who didn’t start Uruguay’s scoreless draw with Mexico last week.
Given how easily the Uruguayans dispatched the Americans in the group stage at last year’s Copa América — making the USMNT the first tournament host ever eliminated before the knockout round — fans in attendance in Florida and watching from afar surely feared a rout.
And it was. For Uruguay.
The visitors’ frustration boiled over just after the hour mark, when Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Berhalter. Since hitting rock bottom with a fourth place finish at the Concacaf Nations League finals in March, where the Americans lost to Panama and Canada in Los Angeles, the U.S. has steadily improved. They finished 2025 riding a five-game unbeaten streak and closed out the calendar year with three straight wins, each of them more impressive than the last.
Tuesday’s was easily the best of them all, as it marked the first time in USMNT’s 112-year history that they scored five times on a South American foe. That has to give Pochettino, his players and U.S. supporters everywhere some genuine optimism heading into the biggest year of their lives.
2. Alex Freeman Steals the Show
(Photo by John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)
Freeman, the son of Super Bowl winner and Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer Antonio Freeman, had made only two appearances for MLS club Orlando City before this season, but he then parlayed his mature performances for the Lions into a spot on Pochettino’s squad for the Concacaf Gold Cup over the summer.
The 6-foot-3 fullback started all six games at the tournament, and stuck when most of the European-based regulars returned to the USMNT set-up this fall. And he didn’t look at all out of place against the World Cup-bound likes of Australia, Ecuador, Japan, Paraguay or South Korea this autumn, putting him on course to survive Pochettino’s final cut next May.
If there was any remaining doubt about whether Freeman would be at the World Cup, it ended on Tuesday. Not only is he going to comfortably make it, his unique blend of size, speed, skill and athletic pedigree gives him a legitimate chance to start at the main event — especially now that Pochettino appears to see Qatar 2022 veteran Sergiño Dest less as a defender and as more of an attacking winger, the position he played in both U.S. games this month.
Freeman’s first goal made it 2-0, and it was good. But he really showed off his quality on his second, effortlessly gliding by veteran Barcelona center-back Ronald Araújo to give the home side a stunning and ultimately insurmountable advantage.
3. Berhalter Makes His World Cup Case
(Photo by Howard Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)
Like Freeman, Sebastian Berhalter — son of 2022 World Cup coach Gregg Berhalter— didn’t have a single international appearance as recently as June. But with his all-world strike to open the scoring 17 minutes into the contest, he may have cemented a World Cup ticket on a team that features few players — including injured AC Milan headliner Christian Pulisic — that can strike a ball or a set piece as sweetly as the Vancouver Whitecaps man.
The 24-year-old has lots of competition. Central midfield is the deepest position in the player pool, with the likes of Tyler Adams, Johnny Cardoso, Jack McGlynn, Weston McKennie, Aidan Morris, Yunus Musah, Gio Reyna, Cristian Roldan, and brothers Malik Tillman and Timmy Tillman, vying for maybe six spots. The last few decisions figure to come down to the wire. But with the USMNT now idle until late March (more on that below), Berhalter’s strike on Tuesday will give the former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain manager plenty to think about over the next four months.
4. Another Chance for the Hopefuls?
(Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images)
Before this month’s international window opened, the conventional wisdom was that it would be the last chance for a number of players on the fringes what with all the regulars missing. After all, there are now just two final tuneups left before Pochettino hands out his 26 golden tickets for next summer.
But after such a convincing showing by the understudies, could he call back many of these players for one final audition in March? That’s when the U.S. will welcome Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and another elite European opponent in Belgium for two games in Atlanta.
Don’t be surprised if he does.
4 ½. What’s Next?
(Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images)
The 24 players in camp will scatter on Wednesday, heading back to their clubs in Europe and MLS. With no more national team games for four months, Pochettino and his staff — not to mention U.S. fans — will follow the American players through their day jobs both at home and overseas.
With so much competition for spots, those games will be fascinating to watch all winter – no matter if they’re in England, France, Germany, Spain, Mexico and elsewhere.
Same goes for MLS, which will now embark on the business end of its playoffs, then kick off the 2026 domestic season in late February. Even with no U.S. games, there will be plenty of performances to dissect.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.
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