USMNT Faces Lukewarm Reception at Gold Cup Opener Amid Recent Controversies

Suffice to say that the U.S. men’s national soccer team was not a Father’s Day draw.

While the Americans easily handled Trinidad and Tobago en route to a 5-0 Gold Cup win that snapped their four-match losing streak, an announced crowd of 12,610 showed up to watch at 18,000-capacity PayPal Park. Far from the ringing endorsement the program could have hoped for on home soil with less than a year to go till the World Cup, such a turnout served as just a footnote amidst a recent string of USMNT turmoil.

Star midfielder Christian Pulisic decided he would sit out the Gold Cup, then went podcasting to tell his side of the story after the backlash from fans and former players. Head coach Mauricio Pochettino subsequently offered a stern clarification of why Pulisic’s special request to join the team for last week’s friendly matches was promptly denied: “We can win. We need to work together. We need to be all together. We, we, we, we, we, we, we. … It’s about we, not about I.”

But a little more than two months after the U.S. Women’s National Team sold out PayPal Park in a friendly loss to Brazil, the USMNT dominated a CONCACAF Gold Cup opener that at times felt more like an open scrimmage.

Malik Tillman scored two goals with Patrick Agyemang, Brenden Aaronson and Haji Wright adding one apiece. Goalkeeper Matt Freese spent as much or more time near midfield as he did in his own box. It was no surprise to see FIFA’s No. 16-ranked team overwhelm the No. 100-ranked team.

“It’s the last tournament that we have before the World Cup, so this is very important for us to show ourselves, to show that we are still there, that we’re still a good team, even though some players are not here,” Tillman said in a postmatch interview.

The fact that the USMNT failed to fill a small stadium fresh off of a record year in terms of home attendance overshadowed the details of its on-field performance Sunday.

Across a dozen home matches in 2024, the USMNT averaged 37,925 fans, its highest average home attendance since 2015. The team’s three Copa América matches certainly helped boost that figure. But even its lowest home attendance that year was a Toyota Field record of 9,191 fans.

Occupying just two-thirds of PayPal Park reflected what has been a frustrating 2025 for the USMNT.

“Going into next games, hopefully the fans have our back and we’re going to continue to work, if not, and if they do, to prove people wrong, to prove to ourselves that this is a time to switch on,” midfielder Diego Luna said.

Saturday’s pre-Gold Cup news conference with Pochettino and Luna lasted more than 30 minutes, with the first 23 exclusively featuring questions for Pochettino, who was frequently asked about Pulisic. The first time Luna spoke, he acknowledged the national team’s need to play with more passion.

“The pride and the hungriness that we need to show, and the fight, is the biggest thing that I can say we’re lacking right now,” said Luna, 21, who subsequently recorded two assists as one of the bright spots for an especially young and unproven USMNT without Pulisic.

A Sunnyvale native, Luna became just the fourth U.S. player age 21 years or younger to record multiple assists in a Gold Cup match. And he did so in front of many family and friends. He said he acquired 30 tickets for the match, adding during his Saturday presser that he “could fill up half the stadium” if given the chance. If only.

Pochettino was hired in September, and recently said in a Fox Sports interview that soccer in the U.S. has only ever been “a nice game to play” despite its resemblance to a “sport war” internationally. The Argentina native has said he aims to instill that kind of fútbol culture here in the United States.

Sunday in San Jose, if anything, was a reminder of how challenging that will be to pull off.

“It’s a journey,” Luna said. “That’s what we have to realize, that it’s not just going to change overnight. It’s not going to change over a couple months. It’s going to take time.”