USMNT 2-1 Haiti: 5 Thoughts

The United States men's national team wrapped up a perfect group stage of the Concacaf Gold Cup by beating Haiti 2-1 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

That's three wins in three games played so far in the Gold Cup for the USMNT, meaning they've won Group D and advanced to the Gold Cup Quarterfinals, where they've got a date with whichever team finishes second in Group A between Mexico and Costa Rica – those teams will wrap up their head-to-head match later tonight, after midnight here on the East Coast.

While it's now three straight wins for the USMNT, it wasn't always a straightforward path to victory against Haiti to close out the group stage. Here then are 5 Thoughts on the USMNT's Gold Cup group finale.

1. Lineup replacements step up

Four changes to a USMNT lineup that had stayed consistent during the back-to-back wins to open the Gold Cup, with this third match vs Haiti coming after the United States already sealed its spot in the Quarterfinals and with the team sitting at the top of the group.

The Major League Soccer-based quartet of Diego Luna, Jack McGlynn, Sebastian Berhalter, and Max Arfsten made way against Haiti, as Brenden Aaronson and Quinn Sullivan got starts in attack, Tyler Adams stepped into the midfield, and John Tolkin got a start in Arfsten's place at left-back.

Experimentation and rotation were more on Mauricio Pochettino's mind knowing he had the Quarterfinals to look to beyond Haiti, and the fill-ins made a difference.

Aaronson assisted Malik Tillman on the USMNT's opening goal, Adams set a physical tone from minute one (literally, as he picked up a yellow card in the very first minute of the game for a crunching tackle), Sullivan hit the crossbar with a shot, and Tolkin was a constant threat getting forward and playing crosses in from the left, getting an assist to Patrick Agyemang on the USMNT's match-winning strike in the second half.

The lineup was different but still plenty good enough to control most of the action against Haiti, and against a Haitian side that absolutely had to get a win if it was going to stand a chance of advancing out of Group D. It wasn't all smooth and easy for the United States, which we'll cover in the next section, but it was a solid showing and good enough for a perfect nine points collected in the group stage.

2. Matt Freese shows fragility

A mistake from Matt Freese led directly to the first United States goal conceded during the Gold Cup. Trying to play it out of the back went wrong, as it can tend to do from time to time. Freese and the United States defense were being pressed by Haiti, defender Tim Ream played a pass back to Freese while under duress, but Freese chose the wrong weight and direction of his pass out from the mouth of his own goal. Ream didn't do Freese any favors with the back-pass, but the goalkeeper didn't clear the danger.

He instead rolled a short pass nowhere near a player in dark blue with the USMNT, teeing Haiti's Don Deedson Louicius up for a clear chance off the giveaway. The midfielder made no mistake, curling a shot inside Freese's far post and equalizing the match at 1-1 in the 19th minute.

Freese has not been tested much during this tournament and only had one save to make against Haiti, but this inability to handle some pressure at the back and lapse in decision-making might raise some alarm bells for Pochettino and his staff. Pochettino just this week said of Freese that he wants to "see how he deals with the pressure to be No. 1 in the national team," and this goal gifted to Haiti was the first bit of adversity Freese has faced with the United States in this Gold Cup.

The goalkeeper could have become the first USMNT netminder to ever collect three shutouts in the same Gold Cup group stage, but his error against Haiti prevented that. Now the question becomes: Will the error erode some of the confidence Pochettino seems to have found in Freese?

3. Malik Tillman: Player of the Tournament?

Freese's howler was costly in that it erased another moment of brilliance from Malik Tillman, who scored in the 10th minute to give the United States an early lead. Aaronson picked him out with a nice cross to the back-post and the PSV Eindhoven midfielder headed his shot across goal and out of the reach of the Haitian goalkeeper, the third time Tillman had scored in three Gold Cup matches.

He's on a goal-per-game streak but Tillman was influential elsewhere outside of his goal. The 23-year-old completed three dribbles, created a chance for a teammate, won nine duels, drew two fouls, and had multiple late chances for additional goals waived off once by the referee for handball and another due to straying offside.

He was named Player of the Match but really, he's been the USMNT's most consistent attacking threat all tournament long. Helps that he started all three matches through the group stage, but Tillman is making it happen for Pochettino's attack and now will head into the knockout rounds full of confidence and positive momentum.

4. Questions, some answers at striker

Striker hasn't been the healthiest position for the United States this summer. A few days before this game kicked off, Haji Wright dropped off the United States roster as he deals with an Achilles tendon injury. The young striker from Germany called up by Pochettino, Damion Downs, has also battled an injury during the tournament and wasn't available even as a substitute for this game against Haiti.

Even further back before the Gold Cup, there was Folarin Balogun, who received a call-up for this June's USMNT activities but had to withdraw due to lingering injury issues of his own.

The injuries and absences of other strikers mean Patrick Agyemang of Charlotte FC is seeing lots and lots of minutes. Agyemang, in fact, is now the only player to appear in all nine USMNT matches played in 2025 under Pochettino. The striker now has five goals scored in those nine appearances after netting the match-winner against Haiti, picked out with a long pass forward by showing some poise to dribble around goalkeeper Johny Placide before rolling a shot calmly across the goal line.

Agyemang can be confounding to watch operate up top. He struggles at times to hold onto possession, is a bit erratic with his passing, and isn't consistent with his back-to-goal hold-up play despite being a constant target for his teammates due to his size and status as the lone striker up top. He slipped and fell during one extremely promising USMNT move forward, complicating matters while the team was looking for a go-ahead goal.

Yet he also has been finding the scoresheet with consistency for Pochettino and did it again to earn three points in Texas to close out a strong group stage. While there are lots of "What ifs?" to raise about USMNT striker due to injuries or even personnel choices (i.e., not calling up Josh Sargent), Agyemang has gotten the opportunity and he keeps picking his moments to score goals. Hard to get too picky about that, though the striker position feels still somewhat unsettled given the unfinished nature of Agyemang's game.

5. Up Next: The biggest test yet

Either Costa Rica (who feel like the most likely opponent) or the hated rivals from Mexico are next, with a Quarterfinal clash scheduled for the evening of Sunday, June 29.

That will be the toughest meaningful match the USMNT has played to date this summer. The friendlies against Türkiye and Switzerland were tougher than the three group-stage games of the Gold Cup, but the first knockout round will be the most tense match with the most razor-thin margins that this group will play so far in June.

The mistake that Matt Freese made couldn't be replicated against Costa Rica or Mexico with an expectation of still getting a win out of it. Some of the missed chances and breakdowns in the final attacking third experienced by the USMNT will prove extra costly as the stakes turn to win-or-go-home from here on out.

It hasn't been the most thoroughly convincing three wins from the United States to open this tournament, but it's been a stabilizing string of results coming on the heels of four straight home losses dating back to March and Concacaf Nations League.

The USMNT still looks a bit rough around the edges during this Gold Cup, but they have some wind in their sails thanks to three wins and will try to now piece together a run of elimination game victories in search of that elusive eighth Gold Cup title.