USMNT vs. Brazil score: Christian Pulisic nets equalizer as USA hold Seleção to draw in Copa America tuneup

Matt Turner had 11 saves to keep the Americans level with the Brazilians in Orlando

The U.S. men's national team held Brazil to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday at Orlando's Camping World Stadium, inspiring confidence in the team in their final friendly before the Copa America begins.

Both teams prioritized attack throughout but Brazil scored first courtesy of Rodrygo, who combined with Raphina in the 17th minute during a lax moment for the USMNT. Christian Pulisic was able to respond with the equalizer just nine minutes later, scoring straight from a freekick on the edge of the penalty area.

Brazil stepped things up in attack during the second half and truly dominated possession, but were quite wasteful and failed to find a second goal despite creating several chances. They put nearly half of their 24 shots on frame but posted just 2.2 expected goals, while the U.S. were more efficient with their chances and mustered 1.2 expected goals from 12 shots. The hosts arguably had the best shots of the second half, with shots from the likes of Pulisic and Brenden Aaronson feeling like near guarantees to give the U.S. the advantage.

It marked a strong response from Gregg Berhalter's side, who were four days removed from a 5-1 loss to Colombia in another Copa America tune-up. The head coach is expected to name his roster for the tournament as soon as tomorrow ahead of the USMNT's first game against Bolivia, which is on June 23 at AT&T Stadium.

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[Jun 12, 2024 at 9:05 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

FT: USA 1, BRA 1

The USMNT come out of Orlando with a draw against Brazil, only the second time in 20 meetings they did not lose to the five-time World Cup winners. They held on as the visitors took shot after shot at their goal, benefitting from a somewhat wasteful performance from Brazil in attack but Turner stepped up to make 11 saves on the night. The USMNT also can take pride in the fact that they had several meaningful opportunities to score a go-ahead goal even if it never came. It marks quite the response from the USMNT just a few days after the 5-1 loss to Colombia.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 8:55 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Another near miss for the USMNT

85' The USMNT have done well to carve out opportunities late in this game, the latest coming with McKennie keeping a ball alive and sending it to Pulisic, whose shot from an angle barely rolls past the goal. We're back at the end-to-end vibe from the start of the match, too -- Brazil continue to go for goal in the dying minutes.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 8:53 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

One more USMNT sub

85' Berhalter calls on Moore to replace Scally in a straight swap as the USMNT hope to close this game out.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 8:52 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

USMNT's promising plays

82' Turner catches the ball and almost immediately throws it over to Balogun, who makes a long dash down the left flank and eyes Pulisic after he makes a 75 yard run into the box but the play doesn't come off. Moments later, the USMNT are close to scoring again through Aaronson, but his save is stopped by Alisson.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 8:47 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

More changes for the USMNT

71' Just before the water break, Berhalter brings on Adams and Aaronson for Musah and Weah. These are Adams' first minutes since a nine-minute appearance on May 11 in Bournemouth's loss to Brentford, since he continues to struggle with the hamstring issue that kept him out for roughly a year.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 8:44 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Rodrygo goes for goal

72' Brazil continue to attack but again struggle to score, though Rodrygo gets close with a shot from an angle. Turner makes a decent stop, though, and keeps the game 1-1.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 8:37 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Pulisic comes close

68' Brazil may be in charge of this half, but the USMNT arguably have the best chance of the half with Pulisic's powerful strike from close range. Alisson steps up to the task and sends the ball back into play but Robinson's subsequent cross doesn't find a teammate and so the play fizzles out.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 8:36 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Endrick takes a shot

67' Brazil keep at it as they search for a second goal, with Endrick joining the effort as a substitute. He has his first shot of the game not long after coming on, but his shot from an angle is stopped by Turner.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 8:33 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

USMNT makes changes

65' Berhalter goes to the bench and calls upon the two players who started on Saturday -- Cardoso and Balogun. They replace Reyna and Musah as the USMNT aim to keep pace in this match.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 8:28 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Brazil keep it up

58' Brazil continue to search for a second goal, recently through a no-look bicycle kick from Rodrygo that fails to land in the back of the net and later when the Real Madrid player combines with Wendell, whose shot from distance forces a save out of Turner. The visitors are clearly in charge of this second half, but they have misfired a bit so far.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 8:23 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

No yellow for Richards

54' The referee shows Richards a yellow card for a perceived tackle and awards Brazil a free kick just outside the box, but upon a review in which the referee looks to check if it's a red card offense, he notices that Richards gets the ball and not the player. The yellow card is called back, as is the free kick.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 8:20 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Brazil's strong second half start

50' Brazil's attacking mindset is still part of the plan to start the second half, with Wendell taking one of their more meaningful shots so far.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 8:14 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Second half begins

The USMNT make no subs at halftime but Brazil bring on Douglas Luiz for Joao Gomes, who picked up a yellow in the first half.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 7:57 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

HT: USA 1, BRA 1

That was an objectively fun first half of soccer. Both sides prioritized attack for the entirety of the first 45 minutes, with Brazil getting their reward through Rodrygo's 17th minute goal and the USMNT finding their response through Pulisic just eight minutes later. The first half marked a strong response from the USMNT just four days after their 5-1 loss to Colombia, but we wait to find out if the second half maintains the same cadence.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 7:48 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Eyes for goal

39' Both of these teams continue to prioritize attack, with Weah and Raphinha amongst those who recently took shots. It's clear that the USMNT have, so far, responded really well to the loss against Colombia and the visitors' attack seems a little stumped right now with Raphinha sending shots over the bar rather than truly testing Turner. The big question from this point on, though -- Can the USMNT keep this up?

[Jun 12, 2024 at 7:35 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

USA 1, BRA 1

26' And just like that, it's 1-1. Joao Gomes concedes a freekick on the edge of the penalty area by tugging Pulisic down, and the captain makes no mistake and scores by keeping the ball low to the ground and slipping it past Alisson.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 7:30 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Close calls

20' The USMNT go for goal almost immediately after the goal but the game state seems to favor Brazil, who are now searching for a second goal with intensity. Vinicius Junior set up another promising play but the USMNT was able to stifle the attempt -- for now.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 7:27 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

USA 0, BRA 1

17' Brazil's attacking efforts pay off with the game's opening goal. Turner's goal kick is supposed to land at McKennie's feet but the midfielder switches off, allowing Brazil to pounce quickly. Yeah Raphinha combines with Rodrygo, who then scores from close range.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 7:25 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

End-to-end action

16' These teams continue to put their foot on the gas in the attack, with Weah taking another promising shot for the USMNT and Vinicius Junior doing the same for Brazil. He seems to be getting the better of Scally on the left wing, but so far the rest of the defense -- Turner included -- has pitched in to keep things scoreless.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 7:16 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Rodrygo takes a shot

6' Now it's Brazil's turn to go for goal. The visitors quickly make their way towards the other end and it's Rodrygo who takes a shot on the edge of the penalty area, but Turner is able to make the stop.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 7:14 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Musah hits the crossbar

6' The first meaningful attacking motion of the game comes from the USMNT, with Weah leading the effort on the right side. Brazil find a way to clear the ball but Musah gets ahold of it from distance and takes a stunning shot that rattles the crossbar and hits Alisson's back before going out. A minute later, the U.S. go for goal again with Pulisic taking a shot but the goalkeeper is up for the task.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 7:08 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

First half underway

The teams are officially on the pitch and play has begun in this final friendly before the USMNT and Brazil kick off their Copa America journeys.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 6:45 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Areas of opportunity

While the primary objective for the USMNT might be to focus on themselves as they aim to improve from the 5-1 loss to Colombia, the hosts might be able to do some damage today if they play their cards right. Chuck Booth identified Brazil's biggest area of weakness -- their defense, which was notably on display during their 3-2 win over Mexico on Sunday. It pairs well with the USMNT's greatest strength -- their talented attacking players.

• Booth: "In recent matches, Brazil has given teams chances to score as defense is their weak point in such a strong team, but Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun, and Tim Weah will need to take their chances better in this match. If they were more clinical in the first half against Colombia, that match may have been a different story and the front three is the strength of the USMNT. If they can round into form striking fear into their Copa America opposition, it makes defending a much easier job."

[Jun 12, 2024 at 6:30 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Room for improvement

Retired USMNT forward Brian McBride checked into Morning Footy ahead of tonight's match and identified areas of improvement from the loss to Colombia. Top of his list? Increasing the intensity after a lax showing on Saturday and eliminating predictability to make things harder for Brazil's star-studded attack. Catch his analysis below.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 6:15 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Berhalter's shaky record

Saturday's 5-1 loss to Colombia raised plenty of questions about Gregg Berhalter's track record against the best teams in the world, which is nothing to write home about. While Berhalter's USMNT have a 35-5-8 record against Concacaf teams, the team has a much more middle-of-the-road 8-7-7 record against competition outside of North America. Berhalter also has just five wins against teams ranked in the top 20 in 18 games -- four of those wins came against Mexico, while the other one was the USMNT's 1-0 win over Iran in the 2022 World Cup.

[Jun 12, 2024 at 6:08 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Brazil turns to the stars

Just 11 days removed from winning the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo return to Brazil's lineup in their final tune-up before the Copa America. Here's a look at the team that will face the USMNT today.

Brazil starting XI: Alisson, Danilo, Marquinhos, Beraldo, Wendell, Paqueta, Guimaraes, Gomes, Raphinha, Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior

Substitutes: Militao, Bento, Couto, Gabriel, Arana, Douglas Luiz, Pereira, Savio, Evanilson, Martinelli, Rafael, Ederson, Bremer, Pepe

[Jun 12, 2024 at 5:49 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Two changes for the USMNT

Berhalter selects Musah and Pepi for the lineup today, who replace Cardoso and Balogun from Saturday's lineup. Adams, meanwhile, misses out on a starting role again after sitting out the Colombia loss entirely as he battles his way back to fitness after being sidelined for a year with hamstring issues. Here's a look at the team that will face Brazil today.

USMNT starting XI: Turner; Richards, A. Robinson, Musah, Reyna, McKennie, Pepi, Pulisic (Capt.), Ream, Weah, Scally

Substitutes: Horvath, Johnson, Carter-Vickers, Adams, Aaronson, M. Robinson, de la Torre, Cardoso, Moore, M. Tillman, Wright, Balogun, Lund, McKenzie, T. Tillman

[Jun 12, 2024 at 3:49 pm ET · Pardeep Cattry]

Hello and welcome!

Four short days after the USMNT's most lopsided loss since 2016, Gregg Berhalter's team aims to regroup against Brazil. The game marks a massive test for the Americans, who hope to impress in two years' time during a World Cup on home soil by playing several top-tier opponents in the buildup to the competition. Five years after he first took on the job, though, Berhalter's side lacks a statement win against a top 20 opponent and so today's game could provide the next chance to find one -- or plenty of lessons to learn ahead of the Copa America.

Stick around for the build up to the game, as well as updates once the match begins in Orlando.