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Malik Tillman became the first U.S. men's national team player to score in three straight appearances for the Stars and Stripes since Clint Dempsey accomplished the same feat back in 2016.
The forward's composed penalty in the second half of Saturday's dominant 4–1 victory over Peru was somewhat overshadowed by the wave of praise directed at Mauricio Pochettino's exciting young players. Amid the buzz surrounding Cavan Sullivan and a host of debutants, Tillman quietly delivered a remarkable streak of consistency not seen from the national team in nearly a decade.
Tillman stood out as one of the undeniable bright spots from a home World Cup campaign that produced mixed results.
While Christian Pulisic's tournament was essentially derailed at halftime of the opening fixture, the versatile Bayer Leverkusen midfielder was consistently excellent throughout. Tillman wrapped up the tournament with consecutive direct free-kick goals in the knockout stages — a feat accomplished only once before in the competition's history — and carried that set-piece quality into the post-World Cup period.
Tillman's Scoring Streak for the USMNT
Dempsey, the USMNT's joint all-time leading scorer, was the last player to sustain such a prolific run of form for the national side, finding the net in three consecutive matches at the 2016 Copa América. A 17-year-old Pulisic was on that roster and was already being touted as the natural heir to Dempsey's legacy. That transition didn't quite unfold as expected.
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The USMNT are handing the keys to the kids. pic.twitter.com/cpWbBzfEFb
Tillman has netted more goals across his last three USMNT appearances (three) than Pulisic has managed over the past two years (two). This prolonged dry spell in front of goal has left America's marquee player without a competitive international strike since November 2024.
Pulisic did end a five-month goalless run with the second goal in a pre-World Cup friendly against Senegal, but he ultimately went through the entire tournament without scoring in four outings. The USMNT's No. 10 barely threatened, managing just four shots across the summer — the same total as defender and international teammate Alex Freeman, who actually did get on the scoresheet.
Pulisic's Longest Scoring Streaks for the USMNT
Freeman was among six starters against Peru who had also featured in Pochettino's World Cup squad. Pulisic, despite being fit, wasn't even included in the roster for these four autumn fixtures. The wholesale changes proved worthwhile with a convincing win over admittedly weaker opposition on the weekend.
Justin Ellis stepped in for the injured Ricardo Pepi and marked his debut with a composed finish to break the deadlock. Tillman's penalty then cancelled out Gianluca Lapadula's equalizer for the visitors, before fellow debutant Julian Hall put the USMNT back in front. Sebastian Berhalter, who frequently benefited from Pulisic's absences during the World Cup, once again made his mark with a powerful strike off the bench.
One positive result in a single friendly against a nation ranked outside FIFA's top 50 is hardly cause for celebration. The USMNT has experienced more false dawns than the Truman Show and has a well-documented tendency to over-hype each one. It's worth remembering that Alexi Lalas described the opening 45 minutes against Paraguay in that World Cup opener as "the greatest half of group play from a men's team at a World Cup in history."
Both the USMNT and Pulisic would fall well short of that lofty standard, but Tillman provides a rare thread of reliability in the international setup — for the time being, at least.