Americans show World Cup big time still might be beyond them with high-octane press showcased against Germany

World Cup powers plan ahead, none better than the Germans. In October 2023, Germany’s national team spent a week in the United States, getting the lay of the land at the Revolution Training Center in Foxborough. Then, they took a 3-1 win over the Americans at Rentschler Field in East Hartford and played to a 2-2 tie with Mexico in Philadelphia.

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Efficiency experts that they are, the Germans didn’t get the geography exactly right, but they were close enough in prepping for the 23rd edition of the tournament, which starts on Thursday. Germany finished off pre-World Cup play with a 2-1 victory over the US in Chicago on Saturday at Soldier Field, the (renovated) stadium in which they opened the 1994 World Cup.

As for the hosts, the team performed better than in the loss 33 months ago, but it showed it still might not be ready to take on the best. Against Euro competition, the United States has totaled only three wins in the World Cup, and has a nine-game losing streak dating to 2022.

Two fouls marked the match: Tyler Adams surrendered a free kick in the second minute, when Kai Havertz opened the scoring; and Tim Weah launched into a wild slide tackle during injury time, too late to either make a difference or send a message. Not a good sign from two of the team’s experienced players.

Warmup matches, though, will be long forgotten by the opener against Paraguay in Inglewood, Calif., on Friday. The Americans offered a sample of their strategy, which is, basically: all out high-pressing, 100 miles per hour start to finish.

Not exactly imaginative, though high-octane effort, combined with a revived Christian Pulisic, will probably work in most matches (except against European opposition).

Coach Mauricio Pochettino even adopted the strategy of his former team, Paris Saint-Germain, slamming the kickoff out of bounds and setting up the press. The idea is, instead of maintaining possession, dare the opposition to try to pass its way out of the back. Sometimes it is effective — just not against top flight teams such as Germany. PSG, in fact, abandoned the out-of-bounds kickoff in the Champions League final against Arsenal, possibly because their analytics experts realized it didn’t help against Bayern Munich in the semifinals.

The lineup was close to what will likely start against Paraguay. Pochettino obviously believes the captain should be a central defender — his position as a player — with Tim Ream in the role, passing on to Mark McKenzie in the second half. Good idea, since the center back has a good perspective of the action. Plus, this takes responsibility off Pulisic, who can focus on running around and trying to set up goals.

A Paraguay preview was provided in November with the Americans winning, 2-1, in Chester, Pa. On Friday, the weather will be warmer, and Paraguay could be without striker Julio Enciso, who injured his leg in a 4-0 win over Nicaragua in Asuncion on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Germany headed to North Carolina in preparation for Sunday’s game against Curacao in Houston. Die Mannschaft’s Julian Nagelsmann made his debut against the Americans in ’23, replacing Hansi Flick, now at Barcelona. Nagelsmann has been in charge for 33 games and Germany has compiled a nine-game winning streak.

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Cape Verde took its second successive 3-0 victory, this time over Bermuda. Willy Semedo, Garry Rodrigues, and Nuno Da Costa converted before a crowd of about 10,000 at Rentschler on Saturday. Cape Verde defeated Serbia by the same score last week in Lisbon.

The Tubarões Azuis (Blue Sharks) open against Spain in Atlanta Monday, June 15.

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Denmark’s game against Ukraine was suspended as Christian Eriksen collapsed in the second half in Odense. Eriksen had a defibrillator implanted in 2021, after sustaining a heart attack during the European Championship.

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The Morocco-Norway 1-1 tie in Harrison, N.J., on Sunday gave an indication of how the summer climate could effect the World Cup, judging by how Erling Haaland slogged around the field.

The FIFA-mandated water breaks seem to do little more than disrupt the action. In fact, the break contributed to extending the first half to 51-plus minutes, before referee Pierre-Luc Lauziere called a halt with Morocco’s Abde Ezzalzouli laid out in the middle of the field. Ezzalzouli, 24, had been going full force, setting up a Brahim Diaz goal and volleying just high.

Diaz converted for Morocco for the first time since the Africa Cup of Nations, when he missed a penalty kick in the final against Senegal. Ezzalzouli went down twice before slowly departing.

Halftime seemed to refresh Haaland, but he was substituted before Martin Odegaard’s 75th-minute equalizer. Norway faces Iraq on June 16 and France on June 26, both in Foxborough. Morocco meets Scotland here on June 19.

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Scotland blanked Bolivia, 4-0, in Harrison on Saturday, as Ché Adams (two), Lawrence Shankland, and Scott McTominay scored in the first half. The Scots will meet Haiti, which lost, 2-1, to Peru in Miami, in the Foxborough opener on Saturday.

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Iraq captain Aymen Hussein underwent seven hours of questioning after being detained at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport on Saturday. Immigration probably could’ve gone easier on Hussein — who scored the clinching goal for Iraq’s qualification — considering he lost his father and a brother, along with the family home, to fighting against both Al Qaeda and ISIS.

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World Cup favorite France meets Northern Ireland in Lille on Monday, and is expected to arrive in Boston on Thursday. Les Bleus will train at Bentley University in Waltham.

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