The United States men’s national team suffered a fresh setback in its preparations for next year’s World Cup, slinking to a 2-0 defeat to a Son Heung-Min-inspired South Korea in a friendly in Harrison, New Jersey, on Saturday.
Despite the return of Christian Pulisic, Timothy Weah and Sergiño Dest, Mauricio Pochettino’s side went down to first-half goals from his former Tottenham Hotspur player Son and Lee Dong-Gyeong.
The U.S. has now suffered back-to-back losses for the second time under Pochettino, and second time this year, after a four-game losing streak ahead of this summer’s Gold Cup.
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The 15th-ranked Americans are winless in seven games against top-25 teams — losing six — since beating Mexico in the 2024 Concacaf Nations League final. They were outscored 11-2 in the first half of those games.
Although there were signs of progress as the USMNT reached the final of the Gold Cup despite being without several of its top players, Saturday’s loss will again invite questions about the team’s readiness for the 2026 World Cup, just over nine months ahead of its opening game in Los Angeles.
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The U.S. again encountered a crowd that made it seem like a road game, with most of the 26,500 fans rooting for South Korea at the home of Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls. Pochettino praised the fervor of opposition fans last summer at Gold Cup games against Guatemala in St. Louis and Mexico in Houston.
Pochettino handed a debut to Vancouver Whitecaps defender Tristan Blackmon alongside 37-year-old Tim Ream, while right-back Dest made his first appearance since March 2024 after recovering from a torn right ACL.
But the U.S. defense was cut apart with ease by South Korea in the opening period.
Son, who completed an MLS-record transfer from Tottenham — where he spent four years under Pochettino — to LAFC last month, made the most of the space. The South Korea captain ran unchecked onto a through ball from Lee Jae-Sung to open the scoring in the 18th minute. It was Son’s 52nd international goal, putting him six shy of tying Cha Bum-Kun for the most in South Korea history.
It was more of the same as South Korea doubled its lead shortly before halftime. A well-worked one-two got Son behind the back line before he shifted the ball to his side as he was brought to the ground by out-rushing goalkeeper Matt Freese. It might well have been a penalty had Lee not been on hand to cleverly back-heel the ball into the unguarded net.
There was more bad news for the U.S. in the second half when Weah went off with an injury.
Pochettino made a number of changes in the second half, including handing striker Folarin Balogun a first appearance in a year as a replacement for ineffective Josh Sargent, whose goalless streak for the USMNT extended to 17 games since 2019.
And though the new faces brought some fresh impetus, with Balogun going closest to getting on the scoresheet in stoppage time, the World Cup host couldn’t break down a South Korea side that has already secured its place in next year’s tournament.
The U.S. will next face Japan in a friendly in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
