Portugal down US 2-0 as World Cup hosts again fail to shine

Bruno Fernandes picked apart the United States defense to hand Portugal a 2-0 win Tuesday over the World Cup hosts, who again failed to deliver against top-tier opponents ahead of this summer’s tournament.

Manchester United playmaker Fernandes had two assists, setting up Francisco Trincao with a cool backheel, before finding a totally unmarked Joao Felix from a corner to double the lead.

For the US, who face rising expectations as they prepare to co-host the World Cup with Mexico and Canada, it was a second underwhelming friendly loss in three days at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, after a 5-2 thrashing by Belgium at the weekend.

In his final game before picking his tournament squad, coach Mauricio Pochettino’s experiment of playing Christian Pulisic as a striker fizzled out, as the US talisman missed several chances before being substituted at the break.

It was an eighth defeat in a row for the US against European sides. But Pochettino insisted his players can break that curse when it really matters this summer.

“Always [it] is the hope the first time is going to be in the World Cup,” he said, after the game.

The US started brightly. Given license to rampage forward in the absence of striker Folarin Balogun, Pulisic shot from a narrow angle in the game’s sixth minute, but his tame effort was blocked.

Timothy Weah sent in a dangerous cross for Pulisic midway through the half. But Pulisic, who has yet to score for AC Milan in 2026, and has not found the net for the US since 2024, totally failed to connect with the ball.

A better Pulisic effort from 25 yards flashed just wide of the post, before Fernandes — played through with an incisive Vitinha pass — cleverly backheeled it to Trincao, who slotted home.

In the final moments of the first half, Pulisic found himself in a one-on-one race with Henrique Araujo, but could not get past the defender and earned himself a booking for lashing out, before being substituted off.

“We put a lot of pressure on them in the first half of both the games, and we were able to create chances,” Pulisic said after the game.

“If I finish a couple chances — which I know I’m going to — things are going to be a bit different.”

For the second half, Pochettino reverted to a more traditional formation with the arrival of striker Patrick Agyemang, who had scored against Belgium.

The Portguese made seven substitutions. It did not appear to upset their rhythm, and the Europeans’ lead soon doubled.

Fernandes pinged a corner to Felix, who somehow had time to control the ball, let it bounce and loop up for a volley, which he buried in the bottom left corner.

A string of further substitutions from both sides slowed down the game. US goalkeeper Matt Freese was forced into two excellent saves — one from a blistering long range by Ruben Neves, and off Francisco Conceicao in stoppage time.

The World Cup kicks off on June 11. The US will face Paraguay, Australia and Turkey, with high hopes of reaching the knockouts.

Despite back-to-back friendly losses, Pochettino said the only way to improve before the intense pressure of a home World Cup was to test his less vaunted side against  daunting opposition.

“We are the USA. And we are competing against Belgium, Portugal,” he said.

“I think for sure, Belgium and Portugal have in the top 100, a few, or some players playing in that top 100. I think we don’t have.”

“That is why it is good to play against this type of team.”