The U.S. men’s national team returned to the pitch for the first time since losing to Mexico in the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup final. Still, it continued to struggle, falling 2–0 to South Korea at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, NJ.

LAFC forward Son Heung-min opened the scoring in the 19th minute and provided an assist on Lee Dong-gyeong’s 43rd-minute goal, making the most of playing against his former Tottenham Hotspur head coach, Mauricio Pochettino. 

Although the match was sold out, it was primarily supported by South Koreans, creating a hostile environment for the USMNT despite being a home match. 

With the loss, the USMNT fell to 10-0-7 under Pochettino, and also posted their seventh loss in their last eight matches against opponents ranked within the top 30 in the world.

Here are Sports Illustrated’s takeaways from the match, before the USMNT turn their focus to Japan on Tuesday. 

Backline Gambles Fail

Through the Gold Cup, Pochettino had settled on a consistent center back pairing of Crystal Palace’s Chris Richards and Charlotte FC’s Tim Ream, providing an outlook for his backline.

Yet, he continued to tinker with personnel at the back against South Korea, reintroducing the previously injured Sergiño Dest at right back, and giving Vancouver Whitecaps center back Tristan Blackmon his first start. 

Meanwhile, Richards only entered as a second-half substitute, as Blackmon lined up alongside Ream for his first USMNT appearance, despite being unlikely to be near the final World Cup roster. 

While Ream put in a solid performance, struggles were evident from Blackmon and Dest, who were overwhelmed by South Korean attacks in the first half. For Dest, it was missing moments in transition. 

Tristan Blackmon
Tristan Blackmon earned in first cap for the USMNT on Saturday. | Howard Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images

At the same time, Blackmon appeared to shrink under the pressure of wearing the American kit for the first time, struggling to keep pace, complete line-breaking passes or shut down Son or other opposing attackers. 

Both of South Korea’s goals came from errors that the backline could have nullified, but weren’t able to because of a lack of chemistry and quality against elite attackers.

As the World Cup nears, it will be critical for Pochettino to sort out a consistent backline, especially in the center back role, as that sets the tone for the rest of the squad’s play centrally. 

Striker Questions Remain 

Folarin Balogun
Folarin Balogun made his return to the USMNT after missing the Gold Cup. | Howard Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images

With five goals in four Championship matches with Norwich City this season, hopes were high that Josh Sargent might finally be able to become a top striker for the USMNT. Yet, those dreams waned as he failed to create chances against South Korea, proving once again unable to translate club form into national team performances. 

However, Saturday saw the reintroduction of Monaco’s Folarin Balogun, who was much more threatening in the latter stage of the match after coming in midway through the second half. While Sargent managed 17 touches, no shots and no chances created in 62 minutes, Balogun had 19 touches, four shots and a created chance in just 28 minutes.

At the same time, Balogun linked up well with Club América forward Alejandro Zendejas, who dropped into a second striker role slightly behind him. 

While Balogun may not be in the best of form at the club level, his play with the USMNT has consistently been better, and he showed once again vs. South Korea that he should be the primary option. The question now, though, is whether his performance gained enough trust from Pochettino to start against Japan. 

Pressing Concerns 

The more matches the USMNT plays, the clearer the player pool will get. However, outside of the primary personnel issues, Pochettino’s side were unable to press with purpose against South Korea, allowing their opponents to carve through the midfield with ease. 

As seen in the clip above, Diego Luna is the only American player who applies pressure as the Koreans play out of the back. Once they play around him, he is cancelled out of the play, and there is no second wave of pressure to win the ball, allowing the opponent to take advantage of space and start a methodical attack. 

Should the USMNT want to find success, it is not only imperative that Pochettino finds his best lineup, but also gets each player on the same page tactically, to press and forge ahead with purpose. 

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Son Heung-min Causes More Panic for Pochettino: Takeaways From USMNT 0–2 South Korea.