Türkiye Steal One on the Final Kick — and Wyoming's Underdog Read Pays Off

Five goals, settled at the death

---

This one had pace from the opening whistle. Auston Trusty rose to a Sebastian Berhalter corner in the third minute and headed the U.S. in front before the second-string side had even broken a sweat. The lead did not survive ten minutes. Arda Güler answered for Türkiye on the ten, and by the half-hour Orkun Kökçü had flipped the scoreline to 2-1.

The U.S. clawed back after the restart. Berhalter, busy all night, leveled it at 2-2 just past the hour-mark equivalent of the second half's opening exchanges in the 49th minute. From there it looked like a draw nobody would remember. Then the clock ran down, Türkiye pushed bodies forward one last time, and Ayhan met it on the final kick. No reply. 3-2.

Min	Goal	Score
3'	Auston Trusty (USA), from a Berhalter corner	1-0 USA
10'	Arda Güler (TUR)	1-1
31'	Orkun Kökçü (TUR)	2-1 TUR
49'	Sebastian Berhalter (USA)	2-2
Final kick	Kaan Ayhan (TUR)	3-2 TUR

It was Türkiye's only win of the tournament. They were already eliminated when they arrived, and they leave bottom of the group with three points to show for one wild night.

Why the scoreboard lied about the table

---

A loss that costs nothing is a strange thing to watch. The U.S. made ten changes to the starting eleven — essentially a reserve roster auditioning in a dead rubber — and the lack of cohesion showed in the back half. Christian Pulisic came off the bench around the hour, but this was never a night about the first-choice names.

None of it touched the bracket. The Americans stayed on six points and finished first in Group D, holding the top seed they had already locked up. Türkiye's three points moved them off the bottom rung by zero rungs. So the headline result reads like a stumble; the consequence is a footnote. The U.S. is through, rested, and onto the knockouts.

The betting recap: dog and over, both home

---

Pre-match, FanDuel had the U.S. at -110, the draw at +300, and Türkiye at +260. We spent the preview making the case that a B-team in a no-stakes game is exactly where a favorite stubs its toe, and that the motivated, healthier-incentive side was live value. That read cashed.

• Türkiye moneyline (+260) — WON. The underdog price was real, and a rotated U.S. could not protect a level game late. Backing the side actually trying to win something, even just pride, was the correct lean.
• Over 2.5 goals — WON. Five goals cleared the number with room to spare. If you were on the under, that one missed, and it is worth being honest about why: the rotation made the U.S. leaky, not low-scoring. A flat dead rubber does not always mean a quiet one when the defense is half a reserve unit.
• Anytime scorer props — mixed. The U.S. goals came from Trusty and Berhalter, not the Pepi or Weah names a lot of cards leaned on. Türkiye's came off Güler, Kökçü and Ayhan. Defenders and midfielders did the damage; the forward props mostly sat.

The clean takeaway for the next dead rubber that crosses your screen: back the side with a reason to compete, lean the over when a favorite is resting starters, and stop laying a price on a rotated team just because the badge is bigger.

How it played in Wyoming

---

Wyoming has no pro soccer to anchor a night like this — no MLS side, no USL club, nothing nearer than Denver or Salt Lake. As the least-populated state in the country, the game never runs through a hometown crest. It runs through the national team and through college sport, and when the U.S. plays, that flag is the closest thing to a home club a lot of folks here ever get. A World Cup run is the rare excuse to come off the ranch and into town for a night.

The 8 PM Mountain start did its job. Late enough that the day's chores were done, early enough nobody dozed off before Ayhan's gut-punch finish. Bars off Capitol Avenue in Cheyenne, taverns filling with the Cowboys crowd in Laramie, a TV propped behind the bar in Sheridan or Cody — the late drama at least gave the room something to groan about together.

On the wagering side, Wyoming went straight to statewide online sportsbooks when lawmakers legalized mobile betting in 2021, and the legal age here is 18, not 21. The trade-off is a thin operator field — the state cleared far fewer books than the big coastal markets — and FanDuel is one of the few actually live in the state. With a short menu to shop, the ones that exist carry more weight, which is why a sign-up offer here is worth more than a glance.

Next up: Round of 32 vs Bosnia, July 1

---

The result that matters is the one in the table, and it points the U.S. to Wednesday, July 1, against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32. A top seed, fresh legs banked from the rotation, and a knockout bracket to climb. Lines for that one have not posted yet, so there is no number to chase this minute — but they are coming soon, and when they land, this is the next ticket Wyoming bettors will want to read.

More on our World Cup 2026 betting hub and our USA-Australia coverage.