United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino has called his teams work amazing and a starting point after finishing the international break with a perfect record from four friendlies. Justin Ellis a 19-year-old Orlando City winger who received his first call-up for the international window scored the winner as the USMNT beat Canada 1-0 in St Paul on Wednesday, building on victories over Peru, Chile and Mexico in the first fixtures for the nation since their last-16 exit as World Cup 2026 co-hosts.They deserve the credit, Pochettino said of his squad. Im not talking only about the results, but about the way that we compete, the way we are building our journey together.It was amazing and that is the starting point to keep going with the basis and principles that we were talking about to develop and evolve in this way.USA vs Canada: Justin Ellis scores againTwo months after Pochettino extended his deal until 2030, Ellis applied the finishing touch to Alex Freemans fierce shot in the 29th minute at Allianz Field, scoring with his sides only attempt on target.Canada, who also reached the last 16 at the finals, pushed for an equaliser but the USMNT held on to secure consecutive clean sheets.Ellis second international goal proved the latest highly promising performance by a USA prodigy. Future Manchester City signing Cavan Sullivan became the countrys youngest US scorer in history on Wednesday with a lob in a 3-0 win over Mexico at 17 years and five days of age.Sullivan broke the record set by Mathis Albert four days earlier. The Borussia Dortmund winger had been 17 years and 131 days of age when he netted against Chile.Im so happy, so grateful to the players and to the whole staff, because the effort was massive for four games in two weeks, added Pochettino.They were really difficult opponents. In this type of window, we need to be careful because having four games playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday and changing hotels and flying in between is difficult.If youve got the same condition as the opponents, its okay. But when you dont we arrived [against Canada] facing a team that only played two games in the previous week, and we played three.That makes the situation completely different, but we made changes and kept the level. We managed really well and competed really well, [which makes me] so happy.Not because of the result, [but] because of the performance and the commitment the players show, everyone. That is the way we want to build our journey in the future.USA results: USMNT perfect in friendliesHeres how the USAs window played out.ResultScorersStadiumDateUSA 4-1 PeruJustin Ellis, Malik Tillman, Julian Hall, Sebastian BerhalterInter.co Stadium, FloridaSept 26USA 4-2 ChileChris Richards, Julian Hall, Sebastian Berhalter, Mathis AlbertEnergizer Park, St LouisSept 30USA 3-0 MexicoCavan Sullivan, Malik Tillman, Julian HallState Farm Stadium, GlendaleOct 4USA 1-0 CanadaJustin EllisAllianz Field, St PaulOct 6What next for the USMNT? 2026 USA fixturesThe USMNT will face Haiti in a two-legged CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final next month.The USA will host the second leg and visit Haiti at a to-be-confirmed venue in the opening match three days earlier. They are unbeaten in 10 editions of the fixture since 1973.Heres how their schedule looks. Asterisk denotes fixture starting the following day in the specified territory.DateVenueGMT start timeETPTNov 14TBCTBCTBCTBCNov 17TQL Stadium, Cincinnatis00:00*19:0016:00 Topics Canada men's national soccer team Cavan Sullivan Chile National Football Team Mauricio Pochettino Mexico National Football Team Peru National Football Team USMNT If you enjoy reading this article, you can help support our independent football journalism by adding 101 Great Goals as a preferred source You Should Also Read Teenager Sullivan breaks USMNT record with wonder lob against Mexico Tom Rostance 4th October, 2026 I had goosebumps: Pochettino so proud as USMNT teenagers run riot in 4-1 Peru victory Tom Rostance 27th September, 2026 USA vs Peru: Preview, expected line-ups, stats and where to watch Mitch Fretton 25th September, 2026 Folarin Balogun reacts to USA vs Belgium and Donald Trump World Cup furore: I can only be honest Ben Miller 7th July, 2026 Mexico 2-3 England: Report, result and goals as brilliant Three Lions fend off hosts with 10-men Mitch Fretton 7th July, 2026 WATCH: Bellingham bags 90-second brace before Mexico hit back against England Mitch Fretton 7th July, 2026
