USMNT draw underwhelming crowd in Gold Cup opener amid recent string of controversies
Summary: T
Suffice it to say the U.S. men's national soccer team was not a Father's Day draw.
While the Americans easily handled Trinidad and Tobago en route to a 5-0 Gold Cup win that snapped their rare four-match losing streak, an announced crowd of 12,610 showed up to watch at 18,000-capacity PayPal Park. Far from the ringing endorsement the program could have hoped for on home soil with less than a year to go till the World Cup, such a turnout served as just another footnote amidst a recent string of USMNT turmoil.
Star midfielder Christian Pulisic decided he would sit out the Gold Cup, then went podcasting to tell his side of the story after the backlash from fans and former players. Head coach Mauricio Pochettino subsequently offered a stern clarification of why Pulisic's special request to join the team for last week's friendly matches was promptly denied.
A little more than two months after the USWNT sold out PayPal Park in a friendly loss to Brazil, the USMNT dominated a CONCACAF Gold Cup opener that at times felt more like an open scrimmage.
Malik Tillman scored two goals with three others, including Patrick Agyemang, Brenden Aaronson and Haji Wright, adding one apiece. Goalkeeper Matt Freese spent as much or more time near midfield as he did in his own box. It was no surprise to see the No. 16-ranked team, per FIFA, overwhelm the No. 100-ranked team. But the fact that the USMNT failed to fill up a small stadium fresh off of a record year in terms of home attendance overshadowed the details of their on-field performance Sunday.
Across a dozen home matches in 2024, the USMNT averaged 37,925 fans, its highest average home attendance since 2015. The team's three Copa América matches certainly helped boost that figure. But even its lowest home attendance that year was a Toyota Field record of 9,191 fans.
Seating fewer than three-quarters of PayPal Park reflected what's been a frustrating 2025 for the USMNT.
Saturday's pre-Gold Cup press conference between Pochettino and 21-year-old midfielder Diego Luna lasted more than 30 minutes, with the first 23 exclusively featuring questions for Pochettino, who was frequently asked about Pulisic. The first time Luna spoke, he acknowledged the national team's need to play with more passion.
'The pride and the hungriness that we need to show, and the fight, is the biggest thing that I can say we're lacking right now,' said Luna, who subsequently recorded two assists as one of the bright spots for an especially young and unproven USMNT sans Pulisic.
Pochettino, who was a September hire, recently said in a Fox Sports interview that soccer in the U.S. has only ever been 'a nice game to play' despite its resemblance to a 'sport war' internationally. He has said he aims to instill the fútbol culture he grew up with in the states.
Sunday in San Jose, if anything, was a reminder of how challenging that will be to pull off.
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