The United States beat Senegal 3-2 on Sunday afternoon in a World Cup preparation match, with Christian Pulisic both setting up the opener and finding the net in the 20th minute to finish off a strong opening half for the USMNT.
Pulisic was the defining presence on the scoresheet: he was credited with the assist on the match’s first goal and then converted in the 20th minute after a buildup that involved Ricardo Pepi, who had the assist on Pulisic’s strike. Sergino Dest also scored in the opening phase, giving the United States a 2-0 lead inside the first twenty minutes.
The numerical weight of the game came from quick, swinging momentum. Sadio Mane erased that cushion, scoring just before halftime and again seven minutes into the second half — his two goals coming in less than ten minutes of game action — to level the match and force a fresh test for the home side.
The decisive turn arrived after halftime substitutions. Folarin Balogun, introduced at the break, supplied the winning goal for the United States, restoring a lead that would hold to the final whistle. Nearly the entire United States starting lineup was replaced at halftime, and Sebastian Berhalter was the lone starter to play beyond the break into the 76th minute before he was replaced by Alex Zendejas.
Pulisic’s return to the scoresheet drew the match’s top individual honor: he was named SSFC Man of the Match. The report of the game framed the result as part of the United States’ final World Cup preparation matches and highlighted Pulisic’s influence on the afternoon’s outcome.
The match also included a milestone unrelated to the goals. Chris Brady made his USMNT debut in the game; post-match ratings placed him among the players with one of the lower match scores on the day, a reminder that the lineups were serving experimental and evaluative purposes as much as competitive ones.
The friction in the result was unmistakable: a two-goal burst early gave way to an immediate comeback by Senegal, and only a halftime substitution tilt produced the match-winner. That sequence underlined both the potency of the United States’ attacking options and the fragility of a lineup that saw wholesale changes at the break.
The immediate significance is clear but incomplete. The victory closes this slate of World Cup warmups on a win and puts Pulisic back on the scoresheet; what it does not answer is whether his scoring return will translate into sustained form through the rest of the tournament build-up. The United States leaves Sunday with questions about consistency and rotation — and without a confirmed next opponent in the source report — making Pulisic’s carryover performance the single most consequential open question from the game.
