USA midfielder Brenden Aaronson is targeting a potential outing against Germany on Saturday after remaining an unused substitute in his side’s 3-2 win over Senegal in Charlotte on May 30.
Aaronson has described waiting for his call-up from head coach Mauricio Pochettino as the most nervous day of his life and is now aiming to add to his 57 caps, having featured in the USMNT’s run to the last 16 in 2022.
“I’m really looking forward to being able to hopefully show myself against Germany,” Leeds United’s Aaronson told the USA’s website, adding that he will “always” be “supporting the guys the best I can” regardless of selection.
“If not, [I’ll be] going into training and showing what I can, making sure I do whatever I can to get on the pitch. I want to support the guys and… whenever I get a chance, do my thing.”
Germany are “approaching the match like a World Cup game to build confidence”, according to Kai Havertz.
“The USA have good players and a good team,” the Arsenal forward told the German FA. “Many of them play in the top five leagues, like the Premier League.
“I played with [USA captain Christian] Pulisic at Chelsea; he’s a good player. Pochettino is a great coach. We’re expecting a tough game.
“They’re playing in a home World Cup and their fans are excited. The USA have become a top nation. The Americans want to show their fans at home that they’re there.
“It will be a good test against a good team. We’ll use this to familiarise ourselves with the stadiums, the fans and the time zones.”
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USA v Germany team news
Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has come out of international retirement at the age of 40 and will be Germany’s number one, head coach Julian Nagelsmann has said.
Havertz, Brighton & Hove Albion playmaker Pascal Gross and Liverpool counterpart Florian Wirtz make up three of the Premier League players in Germany’s squad, joined by Newcastle defender Malick Thiaw and forward Nick Woltemade.
Arsenal’s involvement in the Champions League final last Saturday and parade of the Premier League trophy alongside his Gunners teammates in London the following day meant the 26-year-old was the last player to join Germany’s squad in the US, arriving on Tuesday evening.
That could mean Pochettino will rest Havertz, who may be most familiar with the five Premier League players in Pochettino’s squad.
Aaronson is joined by Bournemouth midfielder Tyler Adams, Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards, Fulham left-back Antonee Robinson and Coventry City forward Haji Wright.
Adams missed 10 matches for the Cherries with a knee injury between December and February and four combined for club and country with a hamstring problem between March and April.
USA v Germany predicted line-ups
USA starting XI: Matt Freese, Alex Freeman, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Malik Tillman, Tyler Adams, Timothy Weah, Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Folarin Balogun
Germany starting XI: Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Jonathan Tah, Nico Schlotterbeck, Nathaniel Brown, Lennart Karl, Felix Nmecha, Jamal Musiala, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Florian Wirtz, Deniz Undav
Where to watch USA v Germany: TV channel, live online stream
Kick-off on Saturday is at 19:30 BST (14:30 ET / 11:30 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Amazon Prime PPV, which charges £2.99 for the game.
USA v Germany stats
- The last meeting between the nations ended with a 3-1 comeback win for Nagelsmann’s side in East Hartford in October 2023, giving Germany an 8-4 lead in the fixture overall
- Each of their three encounters at the finals have produced Germany wins: 2-0 during the 1998 group stage and 1-0 in the 2002 quarter-finals and the 2014 group stage
- USA midfielder Malik Tillman is an academy product of Germany’s most successful team, Bayern Munich, winning the 2021/22 Bundesliga at the club before moving to PSV in 2024 and Leverkusen in 2025
- Borussia Monchengladbach and USMNT midfielder Giovanni Reyna is the son of former USA internationals Claudio Reyna and Danielle Reyna. His father started against Germany at the 1998 finals and captained the USA against them at the 2002 tournament
- The 1994 hosts have won one of their last seven matches at the finals (W1 D3). That run to the last eight in 2002 is their best, losing 1-0 to a Michael Ballack goal in Ulsan
- Of their nine successive friendly matches since losing the Gold Cup final 2-1 to Mexico in Houston last July, the USMNT’s record is W5 L3 D1
- Germany have gone out in the group stage at successive tournaments since that triumph 12 years ago
- They recovered from a 2-0 defeat in Slovakia in their opening qualifier for this edition – a first-ever World Cup qualifying away loss – to win all of their remaining matches in the campaign, signing off with a 6-0 home win over The Falcons
- Die Mannschaft won the tournament in 1954, 1974, 1990 and 2014 but were knocked out by Bulgaria in the last eight when it was held in the US 32 years ago
- Neuer was part of the 2014 triumph and has 124 caps, last playing for his country in a EURO 2024 quarter-final defeat by Spain
- Eintracht Frankfurt left-back Nathaniel Brown has a German mother and American father
USA v Germany prediction
USA 1-2 Germany
The USA’s win over Senegal was encouraging but they have tended to struggle against teams at the top end of the rankings, losing 2-0 to Portugal and 5-2 to Belgium in Atlanta in March.
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