The first of two friendlies for the U.S. men’s national team before opening the 2026 FIFA World Cup on June 12 vs. Paraguay wasn’t meant to be a definitive statement on the Americans’ chances to advance to the knockout round.

But the 3-2 win against Senegal in Charlotte, N.C., on Sunday provided a huge relief, with a glimpse of what can be.

Many believe that as star forward Christian Pulisic goes, so goes the U.S., and his prolonged scoring slump rightly drew attention. Pulisic answered with a goal and an assist to help the U.S. to 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes.

He assisted on a goal by Sergino Dest in the seventh minute before taking a ball in the middle of the box from Ricardo Pepi for his first goal since Dec. 28 for AC Milan and his first U.S. score since September 2024.

After Sadio Mane’s brace tied it, Folarin Balogun made it 3-2 in the 63rd minute.

All was going well for the U.S. until Mane, Senegal’s all-time leading scorer, had goals in the 44th and 52nd minutes.

U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino made 10 changes at halftime, including goalkeeper Chris Brady coming on for Matt Turner and making his international debut, and Brady was involved in a gaffe that led to the tying goal. Miles Robinson made an egregious turnover with the ball popping up at the top of the box.

Brady was too late to the ball. It got by him and Mane was at the goal line for the tap-in. The score came two minutes after Balogun thought he had made it 3-1 but was offside.

Less than 10 minutes later, Balogun was called for a foul at the 6-yard box which nullified a Weston McKennie goal, but Balogun would not be denied on the go-ahead marker when he converted a cross by Tim Weah.

It was not the first clinical U.S. build-up. The Americans’ first goal came off the 20th pass when Pulisic, after a setup by Pepi on the left flank, spotted Dest flying through the box from his right back spot.

Now, it’s on to Chicago where the U.S. will play Germany on Saturday.

–Field Level Media