Portugal beats United States 2-0 in World Cup warmup
Hoping to gain any momentum heading into this summer’s World Cup, the United States once again came up empty.
In front of more than 70,000 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Francisco Trincão scored in the 37th minute, João Félix added a goal in the 59th, as Portugal beat the United States 2-0 in a friendly on Tuesday night to deal the Americans their eighth consecutive defeat against European opponents.
It was the first loss for the United States to Portugal in 36 years, since a 1-0 defeat in an international friendly in 1990.
U.S. star Christian Pulisic was moved from a wing to the top of the attack but failed to convert a pair of good scoring chances.
Pulisic, who played only the first half, is scoreless in eight national team games dating to November 2024 and in 12 games with AC Milan since Dec. 28.
Preparing to co-host the World Cup, the U.S. has been outscored 22-6 during its losing streak against Europe and is winless against the continent in 10 matches since 2021.
U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino announces his World Cup roster on May 26, and the Americans play their last warmups, against Senegal five days later and Germany on June 6. The Americans open the World Cup on June 12 against Australia, face Paraguay a week later and close the first round vs. Turkey on June 25.
Before a pro-U.S. crowd of 72,297 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Portugal went ahead after American midfielder Weston McKennie knocked a hard-to-control pass from Alex Freeman to Vitinha, who played a through ball to Bruno Fernandes.
As defenders Chris Richards and Auston Trusty converged on the midfielder, he dropped a backheel pass to Trincão, who took a touch and slotted it past Matt Freese and inside the far post for his third international goal.
This was the first meeting between the U.S. and Portugal since 2017, when their international friendly ended in a 1-1 draw.
Material from The Associated Press was used in this article
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