Kaan Ayhan scored on almost the last kick of the match in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time as Türkiye stunned a makeshift US team 3-2 in Inglewood, Calif., on Thursday in the final World Cup Group D match.
Ayhan was in front of the net to poke in the ball as the US scrambled to cover.
Sebastian Berhalter produced a goal and an assist for the US (2-1-0, 7 points), who failed in a bid to win all three group matches at a World Cup for the first time. Türkiye (1-2-0, 3 points) led 2-1 at halftime.
The result did not matter for either team.
The US won their first two matches to advance, and they will face Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 on July 1 in Santa Clara, Calif. Türkiye were eliminated after losing 2-0 to Australia and 1-0 to Paraguay despite taking a combined 62 shots.
In a US lineup that had nine new starters from the team's 2-0 win over Australia on June 19, Auston Trusty scored in the third minute off a corner kick by Berhalter. Midfielder Weston McKennie and forward Ricardo Pepi were the lone holdovers in the US lineup.
Türkiye finally got their first goal of the tournament in the 10th minute when Arda Guler, a 21-year-old star for Real Madrid, tied it 1-1, and Baris Alper Yilmaz made it 2-1 in the 31st.
The US took the early lead when Trusty one-touched an in-swinger from the left side by Berhalter, whipping a shot to the near post for his first goal in 10 career matches for the national team.
However, the new-look US lineup looked disjointed, and Guler soon found space and scored off a pass by Yilmaz.
A minute after a potential Mark McKenzie goal from another set piece was called offside to deny a 2-1 US lead, Türkiye completed a nice combination play with a goal. Orkun Kokcu took a shot that nicked off Yilmaz and went past Matt Turner, the 2022 World Cup starter who sat the first two matches in favor of Matt Freese.
Berhalter tied it 2-2 in the 49th minute after Türkiye was unable to clear following a long throw-in. He was at the top of the box to lace a shot inside the left post.
Crucial for the US was the return of Christian Pulisic from a left calf injury, as the star winger entered in the 58th minute in place of Timothy Weah. Pulisic left at halftime of the opener against Paraguay and did not play vs. Australia.
Four minutes later, Pulisic got behind the defense, forcing a save by Ugurcan Cakir. Less than two minutes after that, a ball to Pulisic went off his shin and Cakir stretched to make a fingertip save at the top right corner.
The US had not trailed in their first two matches.
Five US players besides Trusty and Berhalter made their first World Cup starts: Miles Robinson, Joe Scally, Brenden Aaronson, Mark McKenzie and Giovanni Reyna.
As expected, yellow-card holders Folarin Balogun, Tyler Adams, Chris Richards and Antonee Robinson did not play, as coach Mauricio Pochettino did not want to risk another that would result in a suspension for the next match. Single yellow cards are reset after the group stage.
Guler became the youngest player to score for Türkiye at the World Cup (21 years, 120 days). Emre Belozoglu was 21 years, 275 days old when he scored against Costa Rica in 2002.
