What futi can tell us about the USMNT

Taking the app for a test drive on a dominant 4-1 win over Paraguay

Throughout the World Cup, we’ll be writing about the tournament and introducing new futi features. Today’s post is a guest blog by Jake Burgess on what he saw on the pitch and in the app while watching USA 4-1 Paraguay.

As you’ll see from some of these images, we’re still working out early bugs in futi, but if you join the waitlist we’ll email you an invitation soon when the app is more stable. You can also join the futi Discord to talk World Cup with us and share your ideas for the app.

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The start of the World Cup has felt like Christmas in July, but perhaps the greatest gift of all arrived this week: early access to futi.

Now that John and Mike’s idea has finally landed on our phones, soccer nerds like me have an entirely new rabbit hole to disappear into. Futi allows fans to dig deeper into the game than most publicly available tools and to understand not just what happened but why.

Here are some thoughts on the United States’ 4-1 dismantling of Paraguay, one of the strongest performances in the history of the American program.

Just how dominant are we talking?

Before diving into the tactical details, it’s worth understanding just how one-sided this match was.

According to futi’s match card, the United States finished with a 1.52 expected goal difference, controlled 81% of field tilt, held 63% possession and completed 255 more passes than Paraguay. Those numbers tell us the United States dominated. The data visuals you can see by clicking on green story rings in the app help explain exactly how they did it.

Name that shape: 4-4-2? 4-2-3-1? 3-5-2?

I want to start with futi’s passing networks because they provide a much clearer picture of team structure than a traditional lineup graphic. Most soccer apps publish a starting formation and leave it at that. The problem is that formations on paper rarely reflect how players actually occupy space on the field.

Futi goes a step further by showing average passing locations and player interactions, helping to visualize how the United States’ setup looked like a 4-2-3-1 in possession that frequently morphed into something resembling a 3-5-2.

Antonee Robinson pushed very high up the left flank while Christian Pulisic drifted into more central spaces at times. On the opposite side, Alex Freeman played a hybrid role, often dropping into the right side of a back three before stepping into advanced wider areas more like a traditional fullback.

Further forward, Sergiño Dest and Pulisic played very advanced wide positions while Weston McKennie and Malik Tillman operated as interchangeable central and attacking midfielders ahead of Tyler Adams.

Out of possession, the shape became much more traditional. The U.S. most often defended in either a 4-5-1 or 4-4-2 block, with Robinson and Freeman dropping back into a conventional back four.

The team settled into a conventional back four out of possession.

Where the USMNT created danger

One of futi’s most useful features is its ability to quantify where players and teams generate threat. By applying club-level possession value models to team heatmaps, the app shows not just where teams took their touches but also which areas of the field contribute most to increasing goal probability.

Against Paraguay’s low block, the United States didn’t force the ball through the middle but stretched the field to break down the defense through the wide areas, where the fullbacks and attacking midfielders repeatedly created advantages.

On the left wing, Robinson and Pulisic played short progressive passes into the wing, while ball progression on the right was more direct, targeting runners in behind.

Dominating the buildup

Everything started with the way Mauricio Pochettino’s side built from the back. The USMNT successfully won 21 of 29 buildup phases — organized passages of play where the team worked the ball from their own third toward the halfway line. (A phase is “won” in futi when a team exits a phase with better goal probabilities than at the start.)

Chris Richards earned plaudits for his near-perfect pass completion in the middle of the back line, while Tim Ream showed why he continues to receive national team call-ups at the ripe age of 38, finishing with four progressive passes, two completed long balls, and two passes into the penalty area.

Getting forward with a little bit of total football

The real magic happened during the progression phase. The United States successfully advanced the ball into dangerous attacking areas on 72% of their 54 progression attempts, and much of that success came from constant positional rotation. No player in attack was tied to a single role.

Malik Tillman and McKennie regularly exchanged positions. Dest drifted inside. Pulisic tucked centrally. Robinson overlapped. At various points, nearly every attacking player occupied multiple zones across the field. This constant movement forced Paraguay into difficult decisions. Whenever Dest or Pulisic moved inside, space opened for overlapping runs from Robinson, McKennie or other runners arriving from deeper positions.

No two players had more fun with that movement and space than McKennie and Tillman. The versatile pair combined for 21 progressive receptions, 13 progressive passes and 22 passes into the penalty area.

The United States looked most dangerous when Dest, Pulisic and Robinson stretched Paraguay’s block horizontally. That width created space for McKennie and Tillman to make underlapping runs from central midfield, leading to some of the team’s most dangerous attacking opportunities.

McKennie’s runs from midfield were a constant threat.

For the culture

As much as I enjoy talking tactics, the thing that impresses me most about Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure isn’t a formation or passing pattern: it’s the culture.

Not long ago, one of the narratives surrounding the U.S. national team was that certain players viewed camps as optional and roster spots as guaranteed. That no longer appears to be the case. Pochettino has created an environment where players understand that minutes must be earned. The result is a team that appears far more committed, competitive, and willing to work for one another.

Toward the end of the broadcast, Stu Holden said something along the lines of “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.” As corny as that sounds, it’s probably the right takeaway. A dominant 4-1 win over Paraguay won’t help against injuries. It won’t stop the low blocks, the Arda Gulers of the world and challenges that lie ahead. But for one night, the United States looked like a team capable of competing with anyone.