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Goal! USA 1-0 Belgium (McKennie 39)
Weston McKennie breaks through for the USA! The Juventus man stole in unmarked on a corner kick, finishing on the doorstep having lost the attentions of Belgium’s Nicolas Raskin. The wand celebration is back in stars and stripes.
Updated at 16.18 EDT
37min: Goal called off! Doku, dangerous again, gets free down the left wing and fires in a nice ball to De Ketelaere. Turner fails to gather his effrort but is bailed out when the ball goes into the back of the net off the Belgian’s arm. Not a great moment for the US goalkeeper there, despite the letoff.
35min: McKennie and Robinson combine for a nice little move down the left side, but it’s cut out well and shepherded over the line for a goal kick by Zeno Debast.
From Jeff Rueter:
Tim Weah’s making his first US start as a right back and through a quarter of the match, he’s nailed the test. Jérémy Doku is as tricky an assignment as anybody with the ball at his feet, but Weah just stayed upright as Doku tried juking right and left before Weah cleared the ball off of his shin. Still questions further upfield from him about the team’s shape on the right, but that’s a great first impression by Weah in a possible area of need for Pochettino.
31min: Pulisic picks up a loose ball at the top of the Belgian box and feeds Balogun, but his attempt at a far-post finish is saved by Lammens.
29min: Turner makes another save, low to the ground off a long-range effort. He’s been reasonably busy so far in the first half.
25min: Matt Turner is forced into a save when a De Bruyne effort from distance deflects off Mark McKenzie, forcing Turner to tip it over the bar. Resulting corner comes to nothing.
Why a cooling break? For practice. The cooling breaks are in use in this friendly because they will mimic what will happen this summer at the World Cup. Fifa announced that every match at the tournament will feature colling breaks at these times, regardless of weather or venue.
23min: We now, quite ridiculously, have a cooling break, despite this match taking place indoors and under climate control. The crowd is booing.
On the plus side, we get to listen to the Rocky fight music.
22min: Jérémy Doku comes at Tim Weah with pace, getting to the endline ready to put in a dangerous ball, but McKennie steps in with a defensive effort to earn a goal kick. Nice work by McKennie there, and an equally impressive run by Doku.
17min: CHANCE! Malik Tillman’s corner kick finds its way through a collection of bodies to a completely unmarked Weston McKennie on the doorstep. He takes a shot on the half-volley and but Lammens makes himself big and denies a sure goal. The US really should be up 1-0 now.
16min: Antonee Robinson charges the other way after cutting out a Belgian counterattack, interchanging nicely with Folarin Balogun and earning a corner.
14min: Another attempt from distance by Christian Pulisic, knifing through the center of the park under no pressure but with a shot that rolls harmlessly wide.
13min: Belgium freekick in the right half-space is headed out by Tim Real.
Reader Scott gets in touch:
The shirt colors from distance are way too similar. It’s like 20 v two keepers.
Again: My advice is to watch the shorts. But yes, this is unideal.
8min – Tillman and Pulisic play an easy 1-2 off a corner kick, finding Antonee Robinson with acres of space at the top of the box. He rips a shot that forces a good save from Lammens.
There seems to be some lack of clarity between Weston McKennie and Malik Tillman on who’s supposed to be patrolling a right winger’s defensive plot. Belgium taking advantage thus far by working up its left side.
Then again, it leaves a lot of room open for Tim Weah, who gave the visitors its second real test with a direct scamper up the flank. A lot of organization still to be done on that side. – Jeff Rueter
7min – Great ball over the top by Malik Tillman to Tim Weah, who caught the ball on the bounce to cross it into the box for Pulisic, whose header from the top of the 18 went over the bar. A promising attacking movement for the US.
Yeah, we have a bit of a kit clash situation happening here, with both teams wearing their lighter shade. One of those situations where you just have to watch the shorts.
View of the field in Atlanta. Photograph: Alex AbnosShareWe are underway!
1min – the US kicks off, and to be honest, the most notable thing so far is how hard it is to tell the kits apart in person.
Aidan Fisher, who appeared in Season 4 of Stranger Things, delivered a rollicking, wailing guitar solo version of the US national anthem on a diamond-studded guitar. A true sentence.
The players are lined up in the tunnel, they’re wearing the cool new warmup jackets made of netted mesh, the stands at the stadium are maybe 2/3rds full. Let’s play some soccer.
Fun fact: The US last beat Belgium in international competition on the men’s side in 1930. Will they end 96 years of hurt this afternoon??!!
ShareBelgium’s starting XI
The visitors come out with a strong lineup, with Kevin De Bruyne starting underneath Charles De Ketelaere, Man City’s Jérémy Doku and Alexis Saelemaekers on the wings.
Belgium’s lineup v the USA Photograph: Belgium FAShare
Alexander Abnos
The US lists its lineups in numerical order, so the big question given the personnel is what sort of look we’ll see from the US on the field.
The match notes says that Mark McKenzie and Tim Ream are “partnered together in central defense,” which indicates it’ll be a four-man backline with Antonee Robinson at left back.
Who will be at right back? The most likely option would seem to be Tim Weah, who plays something resembling that role often at Marseille (though not usually in a four-man backline).
The rest of the lineup is a bit more easy to parse. Johnny Cardoso and Tanner Tessmann form a likely double-pivot. Attacking midfield will be some arrangement of Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, and Malik Tillman. And then Folarin Balogun gets the start up top.
How will this look in practice? In possession? Out of possession? We’ll just have to wait to find out.
ShareThe USMNT starters
Jeff Rueter
The biggest eye-brow raiser of Pochettino’s lineup is the return of Matt Turner, making his first start since 11 June in a pre-Gold Cup friendly. The pick breaks Matt Freese’s 12-match streak of starting in goal. Is this just trying to give the 2022 World Cup starter a chance to shake the international rust, or is it evidence that the competition in goal isn’t as settled as 2025 suggested?
The US lineup v Belgium Photograph: US SoccerSharePregame readingAlexander Abnos
The Guardian has plenty for you to read to get up to speed ahead of the match.
Pablo Iglesias Maurer takes a look at the pressure faced by Mauricio Pochettino and Christian Pulisic, and how they’re dealing with it.
Jeff Rueter on the midfield battle, where the most painful World Cup roster cuts will be:
Alexander Abnos (hey, that’s me!) on the suddenly shorthanded center back pool
What Gio Reyna said about his self-confessed “controversial” selection to the team despite a lack of playing time:
And last, three things to watch for the USMNT throughout this game, and Tuesday’s friendly v Portugal:
SharePreambleAlexander Abnos
Hello friends, Alexander Abnos here at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the second-to-last friendly for the US men’s national team before Mauricio Pochettino names his World Cup roster.
I’ll be back with you a bit more regularly once lineups are out. In the meantime, feel free to get in touch using the links up there in the header.