The United States won their penultimate friendly before the start of the FIFA World Cup, beating Senegal 3-2 at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium. This was a confidence-building win for the USMNT, as Christian Pulisic scored his first goal of 2026 for club or country and added an assist on the opening goal from Sergiño Dest.
One bit of roster intrigue to emerge from this game, though: USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino's decisions at goalkeeper.
New England Revolution's Matt Turner started and played the first half, then Chicago Fire FC's Chris Brady made his international debut in the second half, all while New York City FC's Matt Freese remained on the bench as an unused substitute.
Does this mean Freese's hold on the starting goalkeeper role is slipping away right as the World Cup opener approaches?
Not exactly, especially because the USMNT appeared to take an experimental, empty-the-bench approach to the Senegal friendly. Both teams agreed before the match to allow up to 11 substitutions per team to be made. The USMNT swapped out 10 players at halftime, including inserting Brady for Turner in goal.
