The United States men's national soccer team defeated Senegal 3-2 in a World Cup warm-up friendly on May 31 in Charlotte, North Carolina, before an attendance of 57,741 fans [1]. Sergino Dest opened the scoring for the US in the 7th minute with an assist from Christian Pulisic [2, 1, 3, 4]. Pulisic then scored in the 20th minute, ending a lengthy goal drought that dated back to November 19, 2024 for the US and December 28, 2025 at his club AC Milan [2, 1, 5, 4, 6, 7, 8]. Pulisic was substituted at halftime after a strong showing in the first half [1, 5, 4, 6, 7, 8].
Senegal captain Sadio Mané scored twice, just before halftime and again in the 52nd minute, both times capitalizing on US defensive lapses [2, 1, 3, 4, 7, 8]. Folarin Balogun secured the win for the US by scoring in the 62nd minute [2, 3, 8]. US coach Mauricio Pochettino said the win could restore confidence with the American public after recent poor friendly results. "The good feelings with that victory, I think it’s more important for the environment than for us," he said, adding the team showed "attitude, commitment, and talent" on the field [5, 4, 7, 8]. Pochettino also praised Pulisic’s performance, saying "the performance of Christian in 45 minutes was really, really good" and highlighting his strong training attitude [8].
Pulisic expressed relief at scoring and hopes to carry his form into the World Cup. "I've felt this confidence. I've played really well in recent months, but all people care about is goals," he said. "Hopefully now people can stop talking about it, and I feel good" [6, 8].
The US has not finalized its starting goalkeeper for the World Cup, with Matt Turner starting May 31 and Matt Freese also in contention [1]. The United States will play Germany in their next warm-up friendly on June 6 before opening their 2026 FIFA World Cup Group D campaign against Paraguay on June 12 [2, 8]. Senegal will open World Cup Group I play against France on June 16 and also face Iraq and Norway [2, 3].
