CNN —
Mexico defeated the United States Men’s National Team by a score of 2-1 on Sunday to win the nation’s 10th CONCACAF Gold Cup trophy as champions of North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
The match was the most important match for either team until next year’s FIFA World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the two fierce rivals, along with Canada.
The intensity of the occasion was evident from the opening kickoff in front of more than 70,000 screaming fans at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
The Americans seemed to catch Mexico off guard as Chris Richards scored the game’s first goal with a scintillating header that ricocheted in off the crossbar on a set piece free kick from Sebastian Berhalter just four minutes into the match to give the USA an instant advantage.
Mexico took command after the USMNT’s fast start and dominated for long stretches of a first half in which Mexico enjoyed nearly double the time of possession of the Americans.
El Tri finally found its equalizer in the 27th minute when Raúl Jiménez turned on a pass from Marcel Ruíz and sent it past American goalie Matthew Freese and into the roof of the netting from point blank range to tie the game 1-1.
After his heroics, Jiménez celebrated by mimicking the trademark celebration of recently deceased Portuguese star Diogo Jota, who was previously a teammate of Jiménez on the English professional team Wolverhampton Wanderers, while the Mexican striker held a Jota jersey across his lap.
As the second half got underway, the two teams exchanged near goals in the early minutes as the momentum of the match teetered on a knife’s edge.
The tension continued to build until Mexico released the pressure with a set piece goal to break the deadlock in the 77th minute.
The free kick deflected off the head of Johan Vásquez and a diving Edson Álvarez headed the ball into the corner of the USA goal to give El Tri a 2-1 lead.
The goal was initially flagged as offside, but a Video Assistant Referee review determined that it was a good goal to put Mexico in front for the first time in the game.
In the second minute of stoppage time, the USMNT came agonizingly close to tying the game, but Mexican keeper Ángel Malagón was able to do just enough to keep Patrick Agyemang’s shot out of the goal, and the Mexico defense cleared the ball away.
The Americans were unable to generate another good scoring opportunity before referee Mario Escobar blew the final whistle.
Sunday night’s game marked the eighth time that the two neighboring countries have met in the final of this tournament, with Mexico now holding the 6-2 advantage in those games.
Mexico’s second consecutive victory in the tournament extends its CONCACAF-leading tally to 10 Gold Cup crowns all-time, three more than the USMNT’s second-place total of seven.
For first-year USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino, there’s less than a year until the 2026 World Cup, and the former Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea boss will be hoping that the return of some of the top US players will help his squad turn its fortunes.
Christian Pulisic, arguably the best player in the team, drew the ire of Pochettino after he opted to sit out the Gold Cup to rest following a grueling season with Italian Serie A club AC Milan.
Meanwhile, Weston McKennie and Tim Weah both missed the Gold Cup while playing in the Club World Cup with Juventus, while PSV defender Sergiño Dest pulled out of the squad to focus on fully recovering from an ACL injury.
The USMNT will launch its World Cup campaign on June 12 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, while Mexico will play in the first match of the tournament a day earlier at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
