Three takeaways from the United States' final World Cup tuneup

The United States took on Germany in their final tune-up match before the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Saturday. Playing at Chicago's Soldier Field, the USMNT fell 2-1 to the 1oth-ranked side in the FIFA World Rankings, with Antonee Robinson's golazo cancelled out by goals from Kai Havertz and Leroy Sané.

With Chris Richards still injured, head coach Mauricio Pochettino rolled out a starting lineup that otherwise looked like the first-choice option. Matt Freese played the full 90 minutes in goal, while Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie partnered each other in midfield.

United States 🇺🇸 Starting XI vs Germany 🇩🇪 Freese; A.Robinson, Ream ©, M.Robinson, Freeman; Adams, McKennie; Pulisic, Tillman, Dest; Balogun BENCH: Turner, Brady, Trusty, Reyna, Pepi, Aaronson, Berhalter, Roldan, Arfsten, Wright, Weah, McKenzie, Scally, Zendejas

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— SixOneFive Soccer (@sixonefivesoccer.com) June 6, 2026 at 12:24 PM

Here are three takeaways from the final match before the games begin to count for real.

You can stop worrying about Christian Pulisic's form now

While he didn't get on the scoresheet like his goal and assist against Senegal, Christian Pulisic looked like his old self against Germany.

Especially in the first half, the AC Milan attacker was a menace running at Germany's backline. In the open field, he tormented defender Jonathan Tah, getting on the half turn and driving at defenders with pace. He was consistently the most dangerous attacker on the pitch, and even though the game was stretched, he was able to hit some quick passing exchanges with Folarin Balogun or Malik Tillman.

These past two games are the best Pulisic has looked with the national team in years. US fans can collectively breathe a sigh of relief.

Defensive mistakes will be punished

Germany's opening goal was a timely lesson for this US side. Miles Robinson, handed a surprise start with Chris Richards still injured, was caught completely wrong-footed by Germany's set-piece. Defender Nico Schlotterbeck came across and put a pick on Tim Ream, but Robinson's failure to recognize it and stick with Kai Havertz was an unacceptable mistake at this level, and Germany punished.

The elite teams at this tournament, the teams that the US have said they want to compete with for years, will pounce on the smallest window of space. Those moments have to be cleaned up before the tournament starts.

It also underscores just how important Richards is. The dropoff from him to Robinson, Mark McKenzie, or Auston Trusty is so headache-inducing. There's simply not a similar replacement on the roster. The US might be able to get away without Richards in the group stage, but if his injury issues progress deeper into the tournament, they're in trouble.

The fight is there

By the end of the match, things were heated. Substitute Timothy Weah flew win with a pair of crunching challenges, the type of challenges that are generally out of place in friendlies, and certainly friendlies so close to the start of a World Cup.

It was exactly what they needed to show.

For a generation, the one constant for this US side was their inability to back down from a fight or play at less than maximum intensity. Too often in the latest iteration of this team, that fight, that dawg (for lack of a better term) has been missing.

This isn't to say there aren't dawgs in this player pool. Diego Luna? Dawg. Tyler Adams? He can be a dawg. Weston McKennie is an entertainer at heart, but he clearly understands that being a dawg and getting into scuffles can be gloriously entertaining. Sebastian Berhalter is absolutely a dawg, happy to get into it with an opponent whenever the opportunity arises, and generally the first to sprint across and defend a teammate.

Seeing this level of aggression from Weah, and the bench-clearing, instant response from the substitutes, though, was encouraging. It's hard to explain, but the scuffle at the end of the match was perhaps more encouraging than anything else they did on the pitch.

It feels like they're up for it.