Pulisic Moves Into Fourth All-Time as USMNT Routs Haiti 6-0 in Nations League Opener

The U.S. Men’s National Team opened its Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal against Haiti with a 6-0 rout at Nu Stadium on Saturday. Five second-half goals and five different scorers made it the program’s most lopsided win since 2023. Christian Pulisic scored twice in 101 seconds to move into sole possession of fourth place on the USMNT’s all-time scoring list, and the Americans carried a six-goal cushion into the second leg in front of 21,597 fans. The win was the U.S.’s first at Nu Stadium and its first in Miami since 2011, and it closed out a night in which the Americans dominated from start to finish.

Mauricio Pochettino, coaching his second-to-last match in charge, started nine players from his 2026 World Cup squad, including Pulisic and Weston McKennie, the two most-capped players in camp. He paired them with two newer faces who earned their first caps in the previous window: 20-year-old Diego Kochen in goal and 18-year-old striker Julian Hall, the youngest player in the lineup. Two World Cup veterans connected for the opener in the 10th minute, the same pair who scored against Türkiye in the group stage this summer. After Alex Freeman drew a foul in the U.S. attacking half, Sebastian Berhalter lifted a free kick from about 30 yards out toward the far post. Auston Trusty broke free of his mark and drove a low volley with the inside of his right foot into the back corner. A brief VAR check for offside confirmed the goal, Trusty’s second for his country in his 15th appearance, and the U.S. led 1-0.

Haiti nearly answered in the 16th minute when a pass slipped through the U.S. back line and sent Danley Jean-Jacques in on goal, but Kochen held his ground and blocked the shot. In the 30th minute, Lenny Joseph weaved through several American defenders and into the box before Chris Richards came across with a clean tackle that knocked the ball out for a corner. The U.S. took control late in the half, and Hall came close twice. He had one goal, which finished a sequence Pulisic set up, called back for offside, and goalkeeper Alexandre Pierre blocked a left-footed shot from inside the box, so the Americans went into the break ahead 1-0.

The U.S. came out on the front foot after halftime and doubled the lead in the 52nd minute on a quick counter out of its own defensive third. The ball moved from Berhalter to McKennie to Pulisic, who slipped a through ball to Antonee Robinson racing down the left flank. Robinson squared it for Hall on a central run, and the teenager settled it with a calm first touch before sliding a low left-footed finish into the corner from about eight yards out. Hall has now scored in four of his first five matches with the senior team, and the goal made it 2-0.

Pulisic took over from there. In the 62nd minute he drew a foul inside the box while trying to collect a backheel from Hall, then stepped up and sent the penalty down the middle as Pierre dove the wrong way. Barely a minute and a half later, Freeman found him in space in the center of the pitch. The AC Milan forward turned, carried the ball toward goal, and from the top of the arc unleashed a low 25-yard left-footed shot that skipped once and found the left side of the net. That gave him career goals 34 and 35, moved him past Eric Wynalda for fourth in program history, and put the U.S. up 4-0.

McKennie added a fifth in the 68th minute, rising above his mark unmarked inside the six-yard box to head home a right-footed corner from Malik Tillman, who was making his 40th international appearance. Haiti thought it had pulled one back two minutes later when a long ball drew Kochen off his line and left Joseph an empty net. VAR caught an offside on the original pass, though, and the goal came off the board with the U.S. still ahead 5-0.

Folarin Balogun, the team’s leading scorer at the 2026 World Cup, came off the bench and had a goal wiped out by VAR for a foul before finding the net for real in the 82nd minute. After a takeaway near midfield, substitute Adri Mehmeti pushed the ball forward with his first touches of the night. Tillman then threaded a pass between two Haiti defenders to Balogun on a vertical run, and the striker hit a first-time low shot through Pierre’s legs for his 13th international goal in 32 appearances, sealing a 6-0 final.

The U.S. controlled 71 percent of possession, put 10 shots on goal and completed 90 percent of its passes. Kochen made two saves for his second clean sheet in three appearances, which was also the team’s third straight shutout. The win extended the U.S.’s unbeaten start to the 2030 World Cup cycle to five matches. All five have been wins, matching the program’s longest winning streak since 2021, and the Americans are now unbeaten in 11 straight against Haiti. Mathis Albert, Justin Ellis, Hall and Mehmeti all became cap-tied to the U.S. with their appearances, and Bryan Reynolds earned his first cap since the 2023 Gold Cup. The second leg is Nov. 17 in Cincinnati, where the winner on aggregate earns a spot in the Nations League Finals in March at SoFi Stadium.