Arda Güler scores first World Cup goal as Turkey stuns United States

Auston Trusty put the United States ahead in the third minute, but Arda Güler answered almost immediately and exposed the sort of defensive lapse that has shadowed the Americans in bigger matches. Türkiye’s 21-year-old star, already carrying the label of one of the tournament’s most exciting young players, found space behind Mark McKenzie and Miles Robinson and leveled the Group D match at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

The goal came in the 10th or 11th minute, depending on the live feed, and it was the first for Türkiye at the FIFA World Cup 2026. The equalizer did more than erase Trusty’s early opener from a corner. It showed how quickly the United States could be stretched when a transition broke down and communication in the back line lagged for even a moment against a technically sharp opponent.

Trusty’s header in the third minute gave the home side an ideal start in a match that closed the group stage for both teams. But Türkiye, which had gone into the tournament with repeated chances and no finish to show for them, finally got its breakthrough through Güler, the Real Madrid midfielder who arrived in Los Angeles with a growing reputation and left the U.S. defense flat-footed in a crucial phase of the game.

The first half ended with Türkiye ahead 2-1, turning a brief U.S. lead into another test of whether the American back line can absorb pressure once the game becomes chaotic. The sequence also carried weight beyond the night itself: before this meeting, the most recent competitive clash between the sides was Türkiye’s 2-1 win over the United States at the 2003 Confederations Cup in Saint-Étienne, France. Their other meetings had been friendlies.

For the United States, the sequence around Güler’s goal was the familiar warning sign. The team can start fast and still be undone by one missed assignment, one slow recovery run, or one breakdown in organization when the opponent has enough quality to punish it immediately.