SportsCatch
EN

Sane's winner extends Germany's nine-game streak as Robinson screamer goes in vain

Leroy Sane's second-half strike sealed a 2-1 Germany victory over the United States at Soldier Field, Chicago, despite Antonee Robinson's stunning volley levelling for the hosts. The result leaves the US with nine straight losses to European opponents since 2022.

2 min read
Sane's winner extends Germany's nine-game streak as Robinson screamer goes in vain
Share

Leroy Sane struck the decisive goal as Germany defeated the United States 2-1 at Soldier Field in Chicago on Tuesday, extending their winning run to nine consecutive games ahead of the World Cup. Antonee Robinson’s spectacular volley had drawn the hosts level, but it was not enough to prevent a ninth straight defeat for the US against European opposition dating back to 2022.

Kai Havertz opened the scoring in the second minute, heading home from a free-kick to give the four-time world champions an early advantage. Robinson responded in the 37th minute with one of the standout moments of the match — a ferocious left-foot volley struck at the top of the arc from Christian Pulisic’s corner, which rocketed into the roof of the net.

Sane restored Germany’s lead in the second half, collecting a short pass from Havertz before firing a diagonal shot through the legs of Miles Robinson. The effort appeared to take a slight deflection off the defender before beating goalkeeper Matt Freese at the far post.

The result is a sobering reminder of the gap the United States must close as they prepare to host the World Cup for the first time since 1994. Mauricio Pochettino’s side had not lost their final pre-tournament match heading into a World Cup since 2002. They open their 2026 campaign against Paraguay on Friday, before facing Australia and Turkey in the group stage.

Pochettino was without key defender Chris Richards, who has been sidelined since tearing a pair of left ankle ligaments on 17 May. Germany were also missing 18-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl, ruled out of the entire tournament after sustaining a thigh injury in training.

The match drew a sellout crowd of 63,636 to Soldier Field — the venue that hosted the 1994 World Cup opener — though Chicago itself declined to bid for 2026 matches, citing insufficient financial guarantees from FIFA.

Germany begin their World Cup campaign against Curacao on 14 June in a group that also includes Ivory Coast and Ecuador.

Share
{# Sitewide native fullscreen interstitial — our own bet-CTA card blown up to a takeover (replaces the SDK overlay). The shared card animations + countdown load once, AFTER the interstitial markup, so the countdown script's first tick sees this card's node too (the in-read card, in
above, already exists). One include covers both surfaces. #}