Three days after dominating Peru in Florida, the U.S. men’s national team faced a tougher challenge against a resilient South American opponent.
Veterans and rising talents combined to deliver a 4-2 victory over Chile on Tuesday in St. Louis.
Chris Richards headed in a Sebastian Berhalter corner kick around the 20-minute mark to help secure the win. Earlier, teenage striker Julian Hall equalized for the USA less than three minutes after Chile took their first lead through a long-range strike by Maximiliano Gutiérrez. Berhalter, who also scored in the 4-1 win over Peru, opened the scoring late in the first half after being assisted by Sergiño Dest.
Mathis Albert added a late stoppage-time goal, becoming the youngest scorer in program history at 17 years, four months and eight days old, surpassing Christian Pulisic’s record from a decade earlier.
The U.S. will face Mexico, their fiercest rival, on Saturday in Glendale, Arizona, in the third of four late September/early October friendlies before concluding this FIFA window against Canada next week.
Here are the key takeaways:
1. Another Crucial Test Passed
Chris Richards rose to the occasion. (Photo by Joe Puetz/Getty Images)
While nearly everything went right against Peru, Chile was expected to offer more resistance — and they did. Though the U.S. controlled most of the first half, Chile had the upper hand at the end of the first half, netting their equalizer in stoppage time, and early in the second. With a deliberately young and inexperienced roster for this first international gathering of the 2030 FIFA World Cup cycle, it would have been easy for Mauricio Pochettino’s side to buckle.
Instead, they responded almost immediately; just 2:35 separated Gutiérrez’s screamer from Hall’s equalizer, made possible by another inch-perfect pass from Gio Reyna. With momentum shifting and 2026 World Cup starters Richards, Tyler Adams, Alex Freeman and Malik Tillman introduced by Pochettino just after the hour mark, a USA winner seemed inevitable. And it arrived.
“You saw the second half, how guys dug. They dug deep,” Berhalter said. “To go down a goal against a good team and to get two more is what it’s about.”