Get free access to all our World Cup coverage in the app, from kickoff to the trophy lift.CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For most of 20 months, Mauricio Pochettino’s U.S. men’s national team had been more of an idea than a fully formed unit.Players had cycled in and out, intensity had fluctuated, attacking rotations had evolved, starting formations had shifted. It was difficult to envision what, exactly, this USMNT would look like at the 2026 World Cup, in spotlights this summer.On Sunday, we saw it.We saw incisive runs and overloads. We saw probing possession and unpredictable movement. We saw talent unlocked.We saw mistakes, sure, but mostly from players who won’t be in the U.S. starting lineup on June 12.We saw a 3-2 win over Senegal that was evidence of the USMNT’s upside.Throughout this World Cup cycle, there had been a disconnect between talent and the national team’s performance. Under Pochettino, who took charge in October 2024, the USMNT’s best players had earned its worst results. A collection of mostly reserves, on the other hand, had turned the tide last fall and smashed Uruguay in November. But when stars returned in March, the U.S. regressed; two losses ensued; the mood dampened.So it was difficult to see the upside. It was all theoretical, the stuff of “golden generation” legend. There was no proof that the players who supposedly raised the USMNT’s ceiling could execute the system that lower-profile players had begun to perfect.Sunday was proof.At Bank of America Stadium, Christian Pulisic was attacking vertically, combining with left wingback Antonee Robinson and refreshed striker Ricardo Pepi, scoring and assisting after five barren months in Milan.On the right, Sergiño Dest interchanged and connected brilliantly with Alex Freeman. Freeman’s ability to bomb up the wing but also tuck in as a proper defender, or even invert into midfield, complemented Dest’s on-ball wizardry. Freeman’s ability to sniff space and then burst forward from that midfield position led to the second U.S. goal. Senegalese heads were spinning.