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The host nation of the 2026 World Cup, the United States, enjoyed a strong warm-up performance against Senegal.

Playing at the Bank of America Stadium in North Carolina on Monday (1 June 2026), the Stars and Stripes secured a 3-2 victory over Senegal.

The match was highly competitive, with both sides scoring two goals each up to the 60th minute.

The United States’ first two goals came from Sergino Dest (7') and Christian Pulisic (20').

Senegal responded through two goals from Sadio Mane in the 44th and 52nd minutes.

Fortunately, the Americans broke the deadlock by scoring the winning goal in the 62nd minute.

It was Folarin Balogun who netted the decisive strike for his national team.

However, the spotlight was not solely on Balogun’s match-winning performance.

Attention was largely directed toward Christian Pulisic, who also found the back of the net.

For Pulisic, the goal carried great significance as a confidence booster ahead of the World Cup.

He can now head into the prestigious four-year tournament free from the pressure of a goal drought.

Before facing Senegal, Pulisic had been struggling to score for the national team.

His last international goal came back in September 2024.

At that time, he scored against Jamaica while representing the United States.

Since then, the AC Milan forward had gone nearly a year and a half without scoring for his country.

This match finally ended that long-awaited drought, restoring both confidence and momentum for Pulisic.

United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino also expressed his strong belief in Pulisic’s potential.

Pochettino confidently stated that his star player would shine and even score at the upcoming 2026 World Cup.

"He will score goals at the World Cup," said Pochettino, as quoted by the NY Post.

Pulisic himself shared his relief after finally finding the net again for his nation.

"It feels absolutely amazing. I’ve got my confidence back," Pulisic said.

"I think I’ve been playing really well these past few months, but people only seem to care about goals."

"I hope people stop talking about that now. After all, this was just a friendly match."

"We have some big games coming up, and we need to be ready for those," he added.

Local Excitement Builds for the World Cup

It’s not just the players and coaches preparing seriously for the 2026 World Cup.

Communities across Indonesia are also getting ready to celebrate the global football festival.

One such example can be seen in Mapili District, Polewali Mandar Regency, West Sulawesi.

Residents there have started decorating roadside areas with flags of various participating nations.

They use bamboo poles, about 20 meters long, to support the flags.

Each household displays a different flag, representing the country they support in the upcoming tournament.

Flags of Argentina, Germany, Spain, France, and Brazil are already flying proudly.

“I put up the German flag because I’ve always supported the Panzer Team at the World Cup,” said a local resident named Muslim, quoted from Tribun-Sulbar.com on Monday (1 June 2026).

He mentioned that the excitement among residents displaying their favorite teams’ flags is growing day by day.

Muslim added that each person hopes their chosen nation will go on to become world champions.

“Now, discussions at local coffee shops are buzzing about which country is the strongest and who will win it all,” Muslim explained.