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The U.S. men's national team heads into Thursday's World Cup group stage finale against Türkiye with complete confidence. Back-to-back victories over Paraguay and Australia mean that regardless of the outcome, the Americans have already claimed the top spot in Group D and will face a relatively manageable opponent in the round of 32.
"Confidence" and "World Cup" aren't words that usually go hand in hand, at least not when it comes to the USMNT. Several elements appear to have fueled the U.S.'s remarkable run on soccer's grandest stage. A world-class head coach in Argentine Mauricio Pochettino, for one, along with the energy of a home crowd and a kind group stage draw. Perhaps a touch of fortune as well.
Yet no element has proven more impactful than the team's newly forged identity — one built on fierce camaraderie and unity. It flows onto the field, visible in the fluid patterns the Americans play with and their collective drive wrapped in composed determination.
It's an identity that Pochettino himself has shaped within the squad, bringing his players together through a blend of South American-style passion for the game and a distinctly North American spirit of relentless — perhaps even slightly idealistic — self-belief.
It wasn't solely the merging of continental philosophies that Pochettino used to build a sense of unity. It was also the deliberate act of bringing certain players together, particularly two who had been caught up in a very public family dispute just over two years ago.
Berhalter, Reyna Reunite Following Bitter Family Dispute
The manager called up both Giovanni Reyna, 23, and Sebastian Berhalter, 25, to his November 2025 international camp, marking the first time the pair had ever been selected together. The players, sons of two well-known American soccer families, had once been close before a dramatic, Shakespearean falling-out erupted between their families in the wake of the 2022 World Cup.
Sebastian is the son of Gregg Berhalter, a former USMNT player in the 1990s who went on to serve as the team's head coach across two separate tenures between 2018 and 2024. While the elder Berhalter did not include his own son in the 2022 World Cup squad in Qatar, he did select Gio — the son of his longtime friend and USMNT teammate Claudio Reyna, an American icon who captained the side and appeared at the 1998, 2002, and 2006 World Cups.
A bitter feud soon erupted between the two families, initially stemming from Gio's limited playing time at the 2022 tournament — attributed to his reported poor attitude toward Gregg — and eventually leading to a six-month investigation into Gregg himself over a domestic violence incident that took place in 1991.
Sebastian and Gio are now paired together in Pochettino's midfield this summer, fighting side by side for a historic tournament run on home soil and standing as a symbol of the unity Pochettino has successfully cultivated.
"For me, it is not important," Pochettino had said back in November, when naming both players to the squad. "We believe that Sebastian and Gio are important for us. These two guys are really intelligent and very clever. I think if something happens, for sure they are mature enough to deal with that."
Both appeared on the pitch in the U.S.'s commanding 4–1 victory over Paraguay in the World Cup opener. Sebastian was the second player to sprint over and celebrate with Gio after he netted a stunning trivela goal deep into stoppage time. The pair is expected to line up together again against Türkiye, with Pochettino likely to rotate his regular starters ahead of the knockout rounds.
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"When we both came into camp the first time, we knew where we stood," Sebastian said, per the Telegraph following the Paraguay win. "We know that we are teammates and that we were going to do anything we can for our country.
"That is way bigger than anything we have going on. So, for us, it was pretty easy. We're two players on the same team trying to do the best we can for our country, and there's nothing more than that. We are here to make this team better and to win games ... he's my teammate and we're going to war together."