U.S. Men’s National Team Opens September Window with Loss to Korea Republic

HARRISON, N.J. (Sept. 6, 2025) – The United States Men’s National Team opened the program’s two-match September slate with a 2-0 loss to World Cup-bound Korea Republic in front of a sold-out crowd of 26,500 at Sports Illustrated Stadium, home of the New York Red Bulls. The U.S outshot the Koreans by a 17-5 margin, with only the stellar play of goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo preventing the U.S. from getting on the scoresheet.

The action now moves to Ohio for USA-Japan, presented by Allstate, which comes nearly 25 years after the USMNT’s first visit to Columbus, Ohio and what has become a special place in U.S. Soccer history. Lower.com Field and the USMNT welcome the 15th-ranked Japanese side on Sept. 9, with the match kicking off at 7:30 p.m. ET and available on TNT, HBO Max, Universo, and Peacock.

Both matches will be carried live on radio as Westwood One Sports delivers English language commentary from on-site for the first time while longtime partner Fútbol de Primera has the Spanish language call.

The starting XI for the USMNT featured six players part of the runner-up finish in the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup – goalkeeper Matt Freese, midfielders Tyler Adams, Diego Luna, Sebastian Berhalter, center back Tim Ream and fullback Max Arfsten.

Sergiño Dest earned the start at right back to signal his long-awaited return. Saturday marked the defender’s first USMNT appearance since suffering a ruptured ACL. His previous cap was approximately 18 months ago when he helped the U.S. claim the Concacaf Nations League title in March 2024.

Partnering with Ream in the central defense was Vancouver Whitecaps defender Tristan Blackmon making his USMNT debut.

Forward Christian Pulisic, earning his 79th cap, striker Josh Sargent and forward Tim Weah rounded out head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s starting XI.

The United States faced a Korea Republic squad that earlier this year qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Featuring on Korea’s roster was Son Heung-min, the newly minted LAFC star.

It didn’t take long for the action to heat up, and in the third minute Korea Republic appeared to create the first chance of the match. Following a takeaway, Lee Jae-sung was fouled. As he was falling to the turf, Lee’s fortuitous touch traveled ahead to Son for a chance on goal. Freese reacted well in the early high-pressure moment, but the official pulled back the play for a Korea free kick.

Some heavy pressure from Pulisic and Sargent created the first shot of the match for the United States. With Korea passing the ball around deep in the USA’s attacking third, Pulisic encouraged his teammates to apply pressure. In a desperate attempt to clear, Korea sent the ball straight up the middle where Berhalter was waiting. The midfielder controlled the ball, then booted a right-footed attempt on frame that Korean goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo knocked away for the save.

After Freese came up with a save for the U.S. in the 16th minute, Korea found the back of the net two minutes later. Lee located Son making a run in behind the United States defense. Son collected the ball and with his dribble raced toward goal. The LAFC star found enough of an angle between Blackmon’s slide and Freese near post to convert the opening goal of the match.

Following a long clearance from Ream and a takeaway from Luna, the U.S. created a good look in the attack. Some short, quick passes resulted in the ball at Pulisic’s feet near the top of the box. He threaded the ball through a tight area to Weah, who shot with the outside of his right foot from close range. The Korean goalkeeper dove to make the stop, and the play was called offside.

Weah grew close again in the 41st minute. Dest pushed a ball through traffic from the end line. Weah controlled the pass inside the box and played it off Pulisic in a congested area. Weah made clean contact for a shot that curled wide of the frame.

Moments later, Korea doubled its lead. The play centered around Son, who contributed to the buildup and assisted the goal. Receiving the ball at the top of the box, Son turned, then got the ball back after a quick give-and-go. With Freese coming off his line to challenge the chance of a shot from Son, the Korean star tapped the ball to Lee Dong-gyeong for the finish.

Pochettino made a four-man change in the 62nd minute. Chris Richards, Alex Freeman, Cristian Roldan and Folarin Balogun replaced Weah, Dest, Adams and Sargent. With three center backs on the pitch, the United States moved to a backline of three featuring Ream, Richards and Blackmon, which allowed Freeman and Arfsten to push higher up the field on the wings.

In the 71st minute, Alex Zendejas replaced Luna.

With fresh legs, the United States came to life in the final 25 minutes and increased the urgency trailing two goals. The U.S. was inches away from pulling one goal back following a direct free kick in the 74th minute. Berhalter delivered the kick from about 30 yards out with his right foot, looking for his counterpart on two goals during the Gold Cup, Richards. The center back made the run and appeared to get a thigh on Berhalter’s service, and directed a touch toward goal. Jo blocked the chance for one of his five saves on the night to keep the Americans off the scoresheet.

The United States earned another direct free kick moments later. The kick was a little closer than the previous attempt, about 25 yards away from goal. Pulisic took the kick, swerving a right-footed shot around and over Korea’s wall, but the strike sailed high.

Korea Republic nearly added a third goal on a driven header, but Freese launched himself to make a huge stop in the 90th minute.

Balogun, seeing his first minutes for the USMNT in 2025 after battling some injuries, saw a golden opportunity in stoppage time. After a nice sequence of passes from the USMNT in and around the box, Zendejas played the ball to Pulisic. The forward crossed the ball to Balogun on the far post. The striker slammed an attractive volley on frame. Jo made the save, then responded to block Balogun’s close-range attempt on the rebound and keep the shutout for Korea.

In a ceremony prior to kickoff, U.S. Soccer recognized one of New Jersey’s own, legendary USMNT midfielder and former team captain Michael Bradley. The third most capped player in USMNT history, Bradley is a native of Princeton, New Jersey and now serves as head coach of New York Red Bulls II.

Goal Scoring Rundown:

KOR – SON HEUNG-MIN(LEE JAE-SUNG), 18th Minute: Lee found Son with a through ball on the left side of the pitch. Son took a few dribbles then struck the ball from a difficult angle on the edge of the six-yard box with his left foot into the far side netting.KOR 1, USA 0

KOR – LEE DONG-GYEONG (SON HEUNG-MIN) 43rd Minute: After a swift sequence put the ball on his feet near the edge of the six-yard box, Son tapped a first-time pass with the outside of his foot to Lee. The midfielder’s quick touch rolled the ball into the back of the net to extend Korea’s lead.KOR2, USA 0 FINAL

Additional Notes:

• Tristan Blackmon made his USMNT debut.
• Max Arfsten and Sebastian Berhalter made starts for the fourth consecutive match.
• Christian Pulisic, the most capped player on this roster, tied Chris Henderson for 31st on the USMNT’s all-time caps list (79).
• During the pregame broadcast on TNT, U.S. Soccer announced details for two matches during the November FIFA window. The U.S. Men’s National Team will face off against two South American countries in the lead-up to next summer’s World Cup: The USA will first host Paraguay, presented by Allstate, on Nov. 15 at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa. Three days later, USA-Uruguay, presented by New York Life, will be the USMNT’s return to Tampa for the first time since 2018. Click here for more details

- U.S. MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT -

Match: United States Men’s National Team vs. Korea Republic
Date: September 6, 2025
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: Sports Illustrated Park; Harrison, New Jersey
Attendance: 26,500
Kickoff: 5:00 p.m. ET
Weather: 72 degrees

Lineups:
USA: 1-Matt Freese, 2-Sergiño Dest (16-Alex Freeman, 62), 4-Tyler Adams (24-Cristian Roldan, 62), 7-Diego Luna (17-Alex Zendejas, 71), 8-Sebastian Berhalter (6-Jack McGlynn, 79), 9-Josh Sargent (20-Folarin Balogun, 62), 10-Christian Pulisic, 13-Tim Ream (Capt.), 15-Tristan Blackmon, 18-Max Arfsten, 21-Tim Weah (3-Chris Richards, 62)

Substitutes not used: 12-Jonathan Klinsmann, 22-Roman Celentano, 11-Damion Downs, 14-Luca de la Torre, 19-Nathan Harriel

Head coach: Mauricio Pochettino

KOR: 21-Jo Hyeon-woo, 3-Lee Han-beom, 4-Kim Min-jae, 14-Kim Ju-sung (26-Kim Tae-hyeon, 83), 13-Lee Tae-seok, 22-Seol Young-woo (25-Jeong Sang-bin, 83), 24-Kim Jin-Gyu (23-Jens Castrop, 63), 8-Paik Seung-ho, 11-Lee Dong-gyeong (18-Lee Kang-in, 64), 10-Lee Jae-sung (17-Bae Jun-ho, 50), 7-Son Heung-min (Capt.) (19-Oh Hyeon-gyu, 63)

Substitutes not used: 1- Kim Seung-gyu, 12- Song Bumkeun, 20- Jun-Soo Byeon, 2- Lee Myung-jae, 5- Park Yong-woo, 15-Kim Moon-hwan, 9-Oh Se-hun, 16- Park Jin-seop, 6- Seo Min-woo

Head coach: Hong Myung-bo

Stats Summary: USA / KOR
Shots: 17 / 5
Shots on Goal: 5 / 4
Saves: 2 / 5
Corner Kicks: 6 / 3
Fouls: 8 / 4
Offside: 1 / 0

Officials:

Referee: Reon Radix (GRN)
Assistant 1: Zachari Zeegelaar (SUR)
Assistant 2: Clinton Hayward (BER)
Fourth Official: Shavin Greene (GUY)