USA lose to Germany in final warm-up but vow 'it's down to business' at World Cup

The United States men’s national team closed out their World Cup preparations with a 2-1 defeat to Germany at Soldier Field in Chicago on Saturday, Leroy Sané’s second-half goal proving the difference as Mauricio Pochettino’s side head into the tournament on a losing note.

Kai Havertz put the four-time world champions ahead inside two minutes, but Antonee Robinson’s stunning volley drew the USA level before halftime. Sané’s strike after the break ultimately settled the friendly in Germany’s favour, leaving the hosts to reflect on a performance that was encouraging in patches but ultimately came up short.

“We can take a lot of positives,” said left back Robinson. “Conceding that early, we could have easily crumbled, and it could have been a very, very bad day to be going into the tournament with. But we fought back, and at times played some really good football, and looked good, looked competitive — we’ve still got time to shore up a few mistakes that we’ve made going into the first game.”

The Americans outshot and out-possessed Germany for long stretches, a creditable showing against FIFA’s 10th-ranked side. But the result served as a timely reminder that statistical dominance counts for nothing when the scoreboard doesn’t follow. At a World Cup, there are no moral victories.

Midfielder Tyler Adams, one of the team’s most influential voices, was measured but purposeful in his assessment. “Excited to get going, man,” he told reporters. “Now it’s down to business.”

That business begins on Friday when the USA face Paraguay in their World Cup Group D opener in Los Angeles. It is a match Pochettino’s side will be expected to win, and in the expanded 48-team format — where 32 nations advance to the knockout stage, including eight third-place finishers — the margin for error is slightly wider than in previous editions. Still, starting with a victory sets the tone.

As one of twelve top seeds, a status automatically granted to the three co-hosts, the United States are drawn alongside Australia and Türkiye in Group D. The path to the round of 16 is navigable, but the players and coaching staff are under no illusions about what lies beyond it.

For this generation of American players — many of them employed by Europe’s marquee clubs and now in the prime years of their careers — the tournament represents the culmination of eight years of rebuilding following the country’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Hosting the competition on home soil raises the stakes considerably. Getting out of the group is the floor, not the ceiling.