Portugal down US 2-0 as World Cup hosts again fail to shine
Portugal playmaker Bruno Fernandes had two assists against the United States (Kevin C. Cox) Bruno Fernandes picked apart the United States defense to hand Portugal a 2-0 win Tuesday over the World Cup hosts, who again failed to deliver against top-tier opponents ahead of this summer's tournament. Manchester United playmaker Fernandes had two assists, setting up Francisco Trincao with a cool backheel, before finding a totally unmarked Joao Felix from a corner to double the lead.
For the US, who face rising expectations as they prepare to co-host the World Cup with Mexico and Canada, it was a second underwhelming friendly loss in three days at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium, after a 5-2 thrashing by Belgium at the weekend. In his final game before picking his tournament squad, coach Mauricio Pochettino's experiment of playing Christian Pulisic as a striker fizzled out, as the US talisman missed several chances before being substituted at the break. It was an eighth defeat in a row for the US against European sides.
But Pochettino insisted his players can break that curse when it really matters this summer. "Always [it] is the hope the first time is going to be in the World Cup," he said, after the game. The US started brightly.
Given license to rampage forward in the absence of striker Folarin Balogun, Pulisic shot from a narrow angle in the game's sixth minute, but his tame effort was blocked. Timothy Weah sent in a dangerous cross for Pulisic midway through the half. But Pulisic, who has yet to score for AC Milan in 2026, and has not found the net for the US since 2024, totally failed to connect with the ball.
A better Pulisic effort from 25 yards flashed just wide of the post, before Fernandes -- played through with an incisive Vitinha pass -- cleverly backheeled it to Trincao, who slotted home. In the final moments of the first half, Pulisic found himself in a one-on-one race with Henrique Araujo, but could not get past the defender and earned himself a booking for lashing out, before being substituted off. "We put a lot of pressure on them in the first half of both the games, and we were able to create chances," Pulisic said after the game.