USMNT's Haji Wright, Coventry City crash out of EFL Championship promotion playoffs with heartbreaking extra time loss to Sunderland

U.S. men's national team winger Haji Wright and Coventry City fell to Sunderland in the EFL Championship promotion playoffs Tuesday evening, 3-2 across two legs.

Leg one saw Sunderland take a 2-1 advantage on the road in Coventry, however, the Sky Blues stormed back at Sunderland's ground to force extra-time courtesy of a 75th-minute strike from Ephron Mason-Clark. The strike leveled things up at 2-2 aggregate, but gave Coventry a 1-0 lead come the end of regulation. The goal, smashed in off a brilliant cross from Milan Van Ewijk, just went over the head of Wright, before being put into the back of the net.

After a highly-contested 30 minutes of extra time, Sunderland earned a corner kick with what became the final play of the game, and defender Daniel Ballard smashed it home off the post in the 121st minute of the match to claim victory and clinch a berth in the promotion playoff final against Sheffield United.

With the loss, Wright and Frank Lampard's men will remain in the English Championship for yet another season.

Wright's 2024-25 season with the Sky Blues has officially come to a close, with the 27-year-old scoring 12 goals and recording one assist in Championship play across 21 starts in 27 appearances. The winger missed a large chunk of the season from November to March after suffering an ankle injury while playing for Coventry, but returned to action in March in his first minutes under Lampard after his November appointment by the club.

In 12 regular season matches upon return from injury, he scored five goals, but across both playoff matches against the Black Cats, he was blanked in front of the net.

Internationally, Wright has 10 appearances with the USMNT, where he has scored four goals and recorded one assist.

Coventry's last season in the Premier League was in 2000-01, where they were relegated, and have not been back up to the top flight since.

Wright will look to see if his name is announced as a part of Mauricio Pochettino's CONCACAF Gold Cup roster this summer. The U.S. roster will be announced in early June, and if his name is on it, he will earn his second call-up under Mauricio Pochettino.