TAFC: USMNT show they mean business. Plus: Ronaldo’s White House visit and Scotland’s World Cup dream
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Hello! The USMNT smashed Uruguay, and Cristiano Ronaldo showed up at the White House. Just another night in American soccer.
Coming up:
- Pochettino’s boys run riot
- Trump and Ronaldo meet
- Curacao’s World Cup history
- It’s great being Scottish (really)
USMNT on the up: How did they thrash Uruguay?
Sebastian Berhalter’s opener (TNT Sports U.S./X)
The USMNT are nothing if not an enigma. A short while ago, confidence in them peaking for the World Cup was brittle, to say the least. By Monday, after a solid win against Paraguay, TAFC cautiously suggested they might be on course to peak at the right time. This morning, we’re hoping they aren’t peaking too soon.
These incremental stages of improvement carried them to a savage 5-1 victory against Uruguay yesterday, a result like no other in Mauricio Pochettino’s reign to date. When the USMNT turn out next — during the round of international matches planned for March — it will almost be showtime. Whisper it gently, but Poch’s squad could be ready.
His early months in the job were those of a blindfolded man feeling his way through the jungle, but through a fair amount of foul weather, he’s roughly where he’d want to be six months away from a home World Cup co-hosted with Canada and Mexico. Make no mistake: friendly or not, their hammering of Uruguay is a statement result, one that leaves Uruguay’s celebrated head coach, Marcelo Bielsa, with plenty to stew on.
Uruguay were weakened — no Federico Valverde, no Darwin Nunez — but so were the USMNT. Pochettino made nine changes without his side missing a beat. His line-up will look different on day one of the World Cup (that goes without saying), but the roster has started to ooze tangible depth. Competition for places is real, a point Pochettino made in spiky fashion when he was asked about the absence of “regular starters” Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun, Tyler Adams, et al.
Plainly, he didn’t like the questions, and his press conference got strangely heated considering the scoreline. “I hate the ‘no regular players’ (narrative),” he said. “What does this mean? It’s the national team. Stop with that mindset. It’s disrespectful. We need to give credit to all of the guys.”
His little digs at mentality in the States grated at first. Now it feels like they’re starting to land positively.
Poch is on a roll
Mauricio Pochettino with Marcelo Bielsa before the game (Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP via Getty Images)
At the weekend, Gio Reyna put his hand up for a World Cup place, reappearing from the wilderness to score early against Paraguay. In Florida last night, Alex Freeman and Sebastian Berhalter stepped forward, Berhalter assisting and scoring (GIF at top of section) and Freeman scoring twice from the right side of Pochettino’s defensive back three.
Berhalter, who is on the rise, had never notched for the national team before. Freeman, as our U.S. writers note here, faces top-class rivals down the right in Sergino Dest and Tim Weah, but by playing so well, the Orlando City defender gave Pochettino food for thought. This is a sea change. For a while, Poch must have wondered how much padding he would have to put on the fringes of his 26-man World Cup squad. Suddenly, he’s got the unenviable decision of figuring out who to disappoint.
As for Uruguay, you fear they are slowly unravelling. They showed huge promise under Bielsa initially, but they haven’t cut a wholly happy camp since the 2024 Copa America, and you’ll recall the stinging criticism of Bielsa’s regime by Luis Suarez. They lost Rodrigo Bentancur to a red card yesterday, but, truthfully, the game was done by then. Poch is on a roll. Uruguay’s performance speaks of trouble in paradise.
News Round-Up
- We saw a fantastic piece of World Cup history made last night: the Caribbean island of Curacao became the smallest nation to make it, surpassing Iceland for that record. A 0-0 draw with Jamaica got them there, and Laurie Whitwell was in town to experience the wave of euphoria. The result spelled the end for Steve McClaren, who swiftly resigned as Jamaica coach.
- If you want to keep track of all the countries that have qualified for 2026, we’re maintaining an up-to-date list here. A mere six spots remain vacant. The glaring absentees at this stage are Italy.
- Court documents in the U.S. show that high-profile football agent Jonathan Barnett is under criminal investigation in the UK after being accused of rape, torture and trafficking. He denies the allegations.
- The trial of a man charged with 31 alleged offences after a car was driven into crowds at Liverpool’s Premier League title parade in May will start next week. Paul Doyle, 53, of West Derby, Liverpool, has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
- Arsenal have confirmed their sponsorship deal with Visit Rwanda will end in June 2026 after eight seasons. The association with the east African country drew criticism over human rights concerns.
- Arsenal, meanwhile, have suffered an on-field blow with the Premier League season set to resume: defender Gabriel is expected to miss up to two months with a thigh injury suffered on international duty.
Ronaldo’s D.C. visit: Portugal star attends dinner with Trump
Cristiano Ronaldo at the dinner (Anna Rose Layden/Politico/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to the United States was in the diary from the moment he and Portugal qualified for the 2026 World Cup on Sunday. In fact, two appearances are anticipated next year: at the finals themselves, and in an earlier friendly between Portugal and the USMNT, planned for Atlanta in March.
These are rare commitments in that part of the globe because Ronaldo, despite his gargantuan profile, hadn’t been spotted in the U.S. for years. In 2017, German outlet Der Spiegel revealed details of an alleged sexual assault involving him and model Kathryn Mayorga in Las Vegas in 2009. Ronaldo always strenuously denied the allegations, and charges have never been brought against him.
His absence from the States ended yesterday in the most high-profile manner: at a gala dinner hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House. Ronaldo, it appears, spoke with Trump in person beforehand and met with his son, Barron. “My son is a big fan of Ronaldo,” Trump said. “Barron got to meet him and I think he respects his father a little bit more now, just the fact I introduced you.”
Ronaldo’s attendance coincided with diplomatic talks between Trump and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman. The purpose of his visit isn’t clear — Henry Bushnell tried to make sense of it for us — but as the Saudi Pro League’s superstar name with Al Nassr, his links to the Gulf state speak for themselves. His trip to Washington, D.C. also follows appearances by FIFA president Gianni Infantino in the Oval Office, and it’s hard to think of a time when American politics and soccer were more intertwined than this.
Choose Scotland: McTominay inspires his nation to the World Cup
Scott McTominay’s overhead kick against Denmark (BBC Sport Scotland/X)
If you’re familiar with the 1996 film Trainspotting (and if not, why not?), you’ll know the scene in which the main character, Mark Renton, is asked if he’s proud to be Scottish. “It’s s***e being Scottish,” he shouts back.
That, in essence, was the tone of many match reports as Scotland’s national team blundered into added time last night, level at 2-2 with Denmark in a World Cup qualifier in Glasgow they had to win. Never mind Scott McTominay’s brilliant overhead opener after just three minutes, above. Never mind the red card shown to Denmark’s Rasmus Kristensen. That old quote was ringing in our ears.
And then… well, Scotland’s World Cup bid chose life. Kieran Tierney curled in a cracker on 93 minutes. Kenny McLean made it 4-2 with a lob from his own half, below. We’re off to the World Cup finals rather than a World Cup play-off — ending an absence stretching back to 1998 — and I woke up believing there is a God. It doesn’t mean Renton was wholly wrong, but it’s true what they say: every dog has its day.
Kenny McLean’s goal from the halfway line (BBC Sport Scotland/X)
Around TAFC
- Football has become extraordinarily litigious. The charges brought by the Premier League against Manchester City — still no sign of white smoke there — are merely part of a trend across the game. It’s harvest time for the legal fraternity, as Phil Buckingham writes.
- Mariano Diaz was the man who took Cristiano Ronaldo’s No 7 shirt at Real Madrid. It didn’t really work out for him, but he’s the ideal person to offer advice to Endrick, a prospect struggling to make the grade at the Bernabeu. Guillermo Rai spoke to Mariano.
- Get stuck into this beauty of a tactical read from Anantaajith Raghuraman on the evolution of Pep Guardiola as a coach, following his 1,000th match in management. It tracks Guardiola’s path through Barcelona, Bayern Munich and City.
- NHL icon Wayne Gretzky showed up to speak to Canada’s squad before their friendly against Venezuela. The pep talk did the trick: Canada won 2-0.
- Most clicked in Tuesday’s TAFC: Trump’s latest World Cup host city threats.
Catch a match
(Selected matches, times ET/UK)
UEFA Women’s Champions League: Juventus vs OL Lyonnes, 12.45pm/5.45pm; Wolfsburg vs Manchester United, 12.45pm/7.45pm; Arsenal vs Real Madrid, 3pm/8pm — all DAZN/Disney+.
And Finally…
The annals of football are littered with goalkeeping errors, but not many as peculiar as this by Wales’ Karl Darlow: losing his footing completely as North Macedonia steamed forward and presenting Bojan Miovski with an open goal to shoot at.
Still, if you’re going to go all Bambi On Ice, best to do it on a night like this one. Wales ran riot and won 7-1. They’re into the World Cup play-offs with home advantage in the UEFA semi-finals. Even Darlow must see the funny side.
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