Key events
Jeff Rueter
A bit funny to add a hydration break when the players were so thoroughly doused for the first 10 minutes. Germany will be grateful for the reprieve as the US had finally begun to pose a threat in possession, while Germany’s best looks since Havertz’s opener have come by spraying the ball beyond the defense for Leroy Sané to run onto down the right.
Matt Freese has been awfully timid to leave his line since conceding, doing little to project confidence compared to Matt Turner’s first-half performance against Senegal.
22 min: The teams pause for a hydration break.
20 min: A bit better from the US over the past few minutes. They’ve responded nicely from a dismal start as Germany’s attack has gone on walkabout. The US win another corner, but Pulisic’s offering comes to nothing.
15 min: The Americans win their first corner of the afternoon. It’s played to Dest a few steps outside the area and he takes a crack that sails safely over the crossbar.
14 min: The US are keeping the ball in the midfield for the first time today. It’s a start.
13 min: Cheers from the crowd as the rain subsides as quickly as it arrived and the sun comes back out. Behind every cloud …
10 min: Another deadly serious Germany chance is denied by the offside flag. The US are two narrow calls away from being down 3-0 after 10 minutes.
9 min: Dest runs on to a long throughball but he’s chased down by a Germany defender and the United States’ first hint of a chance is thwarted.
8 min: Germany in total control with 70% possession and all of the scoring chances in the early stages.
6 min: Havertz nearly has a second goal after six minutes but he’s denied by the offside flag.
Jeff Rueter
An uncredited assist owed to Nico Schlotterbeck for a perfectly executed screen on Tim Ream, leaving Havertz unmarked with Miles Robinson on the wrong side of the Arsenal midfielder.
4 min: Almost on cue, the skies have opened above Soldier Field and umbrellas come out all over the park.
GOAL! USA 0-1 Germany (Havertz, 3 min)
All too easy. Sané puts it right on the head of Havertz, who calmly deposits it into the back of the net with a gaggle of US defenders in his wake. One week after scoring for Arsenal in the Champions League final, the 26-year-old striker has found the score sheet in Chicago.
2 min: An early free kick given to Germany as Nmecha is brought down by Adams. Sané will take it.
1 min: And we’re off! The US kick off and attack from left to right in their all-blue strips. Germany are going from right to left in white shirts and blue shorts.
Jeff Rueter
And here’s Guardian US soccer correspondent Jeff Rueter from the Soldier Field press box:
A lovely show of appreciation from the German fans stationed near the press box during a rousing belted edition of the Star-Spangled Banner. Some fans in Mättheus, Kimmich and Müller jerseys opted to applaud the opponent’s anthem throughout its entirely. There’s an opera enthusiast inside many of us, apparently.
A nice pre-match ceremony as well, with members of the 1994 roster given an ovation before all 26 players on this summer’s squad were named and applauded by the fans in attendance. That included Chris Richards, whose status remains in limbo as he recovers from a late-season ankle injury.
Alexander Abnos
Guardian US soccer editor Alexander Abnos has entered the chat with a dispatch from the ground at Soldier Field.
The vibes are high here in Chicago – fans are still sprinting to the stadium entrance and the crowds have been legion outside for hours. In an era when so many US friendlies fail to sell out or create much atmosphere, this is about as rousing a send-off as they could possibly ask for.
It’s a picture-perfect 79F (26C) day in Chicago. The fans are out in full regalia as the teams make their way from the tunnel for the anthems. We should be under way in a few minutes.
Adams: ‘We believe that we can do something special’
USA midfielder Tyler Adams speaks with a Fox sideline reporter on the telecast. Asked what will be important for his team in today’s game, he says: “Minimizing spaces, but that’s easier said than done when you’re playing against such high-level players. We know there’s going to be times where they break us down, where they’re going to get in open spaces. It’s about how we defend and get numbers around the ball and ultimately not conceding many chances.”
He adds: “We’re playing in front of a home crowd. We need to get used to this atmosphere and bring the game to them. So playing balls in behind, pressing after we lose the ball. … We’re just excited. Ambitious. We believe that we can do something special. Now it’s about showing it.”
New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani may not have had much time to study the World Cup field, but that did not stop him from making one of the tournament’s boldest predictions.
Playing the Guardian’s World Cup Bracketology game, Mamdani picked Morocco to win the 2026 World Cup, backing the Atlas Lions to beat France in the final. He admitted the choice was driven as much by emotion as analysis, saying he ultimately decided to “go with my heart”.
If it happens, Morocco would become the first African nation ever to win the World Cup.
The prediction reflects Mamdani’s long-standing connection to both soccer and New York City’s North African communities. When Morocco became the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final in Qatar in 2022, he joined celebrations on Astoria’s Steinway Street after the quarter-final victory over Portugal.
Mamdani’s bracket also features Haiti reaching the knockout stage, Japan upsetting Brazil and the United States advancing to the quarter-finals before losing to England.
Preamble
The wait is nearly over. Six days before the start of the World Cup, the United States get one final chance to cut their teeth on elite opposition as Mauricio Pochettino’s side plays host to Germany before an expected capacity crowd at Soldier Field, the soon-to-be-former home of the NFL’s Chicago Bears.
The Americans arrive with some momentum after last week’s entertaining 3-2 victory over Senegal in Charlotte, where goals from Sergiño Dest, Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun helped the USMNT quell a second-half fightback from Sadio Mané and co. Today’s challenge, at least on paper, stands to be more imposing. Germany, the four-time world champions sitting at 10th in Fifa rankings, provide the kind of measuring-stick opponent the United States are likely to encounter should they advance to the knockout stage later this month. The teams have met three times at the World Cup, most memorably in the Americans’ controversial 1-0 quarter-final defeat in 2002. (Try mentioning Torsten Frings to US supporters of a certain age.)
Pochettino makes five changes from the Senegal win, with Matt Freese starting in goal alongside Weston McKennie, Malik Tillman, Miles Robinson and Balogun. Tim Ream captains the side, while Pulisic earns his 86th cap and enters within one goal of Eric Wynalda for fourth place on the USMNT’s all-time scoring table.
The lineups are in. We should be under way in just about half an hour.
The lineups!
USA
Freese; A Robinson, Ream (C), M Robinson, Freeman; Adams, McKennie; Pulisic, Tillman, Dest; Balogun
Germany
Baumann; Kimmich (C), Tah, Schlotterbeck, Brown; Nmecha, Pavlovic; Sané, Musiala, Wirtz; Havertz
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s the latest on the Chris Richards situation.
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