Last word to Scott Martin: “In the referee’s defense, He has a solid ‘not a foul’ signal, and it would be a shame not to use it.”
I warm up for games by yelling “advantage” a lot. I should probably stop using that as a crutch.
But these games are incredibly difficult to officiate, and it would’ve taken some baffling decisions to give the USA a chance in this one against a superlative Mexican team.
Good night to those in the USA, and happy Monday to those in other time zones.
Topic A for the USA is …
… who took advantage of their teammates’ absences to stake a claim for the World Cup roster?
I don’t know that anyone surprised us with their standout play here except perhaps Alex Freeman. Malik Tillman and Diego Luna already have a decent amount of buzz.
Maybe Matt Freese, with his penalty shootout heroics against Costa Rica?
Still a very long way to go.
Landon Donovan: “Other guys kind of fell apart during the match.”
The USA won the Fair Play Award. It’s presented to Ream, who poses with USSF president Cindy Cone.
Mexico’s Luis Malagon wins the Golden Glove. Honestly, he was a bit lucky on the saves he made tonight, but it’s hard to fault him on the goal.
Edson Alvarez gets the “best player” award.
Tim Ream’s interview is abruptly cut short because the people at the desk apparently needed to say something. He was saying something about calmness. Not sure if he meant Mexico having it or the USA not having it.
The great drummer Neil Peart once said of an album release by his band, Rush, that it’s everything you hate about Rush.
This game was everything you hate about Concacaf. Cynical fouls, with a referee struggling to keep pace. An awkward playing surface – specifically, grass trucked in and put over artificial turf. US supporters being outnumbered in the crowd by their opponents. An opening ceremony that left a thick haze in the stadium through much of the game.
And a dreadful game by the US team. They make take some positives from this tournament, but they can take no positives from this game. They were outplayed in every aspect of the game in nearly every minute.
The absences, of course, were noteworthy. No Christian Pulisic. No Weston McKennie. No Antonee Robinson. But several of these players will be disappointed in their performances tonight, and rightly so.
The Fox Sports crew is spinning it as a way for the younger players to gain experience. To be sure, that’s true for Alex Freeman (age 20), Damion Downs (21) and Diego Luna (21), all of whom had some good moments in this tournament. Malik Tillman is still 23, though a game like this will age someone quickly.
But the 2-1 score flatters the USA. This could’ve been so much worse.
Full credit, however, to Mexico. This is a team that knows how to possess the ball and knows how to win it back. Their lack of finishing acumen will limit their progress in the World Cup, but in Concacaf, they are absolutely the top team of 2025.
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Full time: USA 1-2 Mexico
Call it what you like, but don’t call it undeserved.
90 min +7: Aaronson bundles the ball over his own goal line to concede a corner.
90 min +5: In roughly the amount of time it takes a first-time novelist to complete a draft, Mexico take a throw-in.
The USA go off to the races when they get it back, and Montes simply takes the ball away from Freeman.
90 min +4: Freeman tries to switch the point of attack, but Vega sees it all the way and easily picks it off.
90 min +3: Ruiz with a timely step to break up a US attack.
The seams in the grass are plainly visible. Footing has been a problem at times.
90 min +2: Whatever the USA tried to do off that free kick didn’t work.
But Ream knocks it forward, and it’s a CHANCE for the USA. Downs, perhaps thinking he was offside, leaves the ball for Agyebang, who doesn’t make clean contact. That was very close to a stunning equalizer.
90 min: We should have about 800 minutes of stoppage time. We’ll have seven. Actually, that’s probably about right.
But add on to that – Freeman is down after being shoved to the ground. Free kick for the USA near the sideline, 40 yards from goal.
88 min: Aaronson rolls a couple of times after being tripped.
Gimenez, who just came into the game, is down. Seems suspicious, but a closeup shows a finger that bent in a way you do not want fingers to bend.
87 min: After spending a few minutes on the substitutions, play resumes with the USA getting a couple of touches in the Mexican penalty area.
85 min: A brilliant slide tackle from Alvarez stops Agyemang’s promising run.
Raul Jimenez gets a yellow card for time-wasting as he takes an epoch or two to leave the field as he’s subbed out for Gimenez.
Reyes replaces Sanchez. Huerta comes on for Alvarado, who had a tremendous game.
Tolkin replaces Arfsten, which seems a bit unfortunate. Aaronson replaces Luna.
83 min: Alvarado shoots wide, then drops the ground. Possible cramp. Or time-wasting.
Gimenez and Huerta are about to come on Mexico; Aaronson and Tolkin for the USA.
82 min: McGlynn replaces the ineffective Adams, who kicks something on the bench in frustration.
Goooooaaaalll! USA 1-2 Mexico (Alvarez 77)
The VAR decision is that Alvarez barely stayed on.
I suppose, but given the way the freeze-frame technology usually finds some fingernail in an offside position, I don’t know that I buy it.
Gooooooall! No.
At least for now. The ball is played across the area, off one Mexican player’s head and then off Alvarez’s head and into the net.
But he’s offside.
Or …
76 min: Strong defensive play from Berhalter near the top of the penalty area, but Mexico regain possession, and Luna is called for a foul. The ball is near the far sideline.
74 min: Mexico bring in Pineda for the youngster Mora, who certainly made his presence felt in this game.
73 min: Alvarado has a sliver of space, but the US defense swarm to take it away.
72 min: Pochettino sent Downs into the game with instructions to be relayed to his teammates, and it appears they were not correctly relayed. The team are in disarray.
71 min: Against all odds and all stats, this game is still 1-1.
Mexico gets their 11th corner kick. The USA have none.
69 min: US sub: Downs for de la Torre. Today is Downs’ 21st birthday, so if the USA were to somehow win this, he’d be allowed to taste the champagne.
67 min: Vega’s cross sails across the front of the net, and Richards chests it out for a corner.
Replay shows the defender certainly put a hand on the ball while it was sitting on the ground. From a common-sense point of view, I can understand why that wasn’t called, but from a Laws of the Game perspective, I don’t.
67 min: Arfsten beats one defender but not the next, but the defender puts a hand down to the ground and … maybe handles the ball?
65 min: Mexico’s eighth corner kick is deflected for Mexico’s ninth corner kick. But we’ll pause as the ref notices the two Mexican players once again giving Berhalter a noogie.
64 min: Adams slams into Alvarado and is surprised to be called for a foul.
Joe Pearson: “According to the ELO rankings (not the band), Mexico are 22, USA are 40. Seems about right.”
Speaking of Elo ratings, congratulations to Magnus Carlsen for breaking the 2900 mark.
61 min: Tillman slides through two Mexican players and is called for fouling at least one of them.
Before that, a half-chance for the USA as a through ball pops into space, but Malagon alertly races out of his goal to play the ball. He was probably getting bored.
58 min: As a referee myself (very, very low level), I hate to criticize the people with the whistles, but after a sound decision to establish control early by blowing the whistle often, he seems to have misplaced it. Tillman is just getting clobbered out there.
“His threshold for a foul is insanely high,” says one person on the refereeing forum I peruse.
Hey – foul called as Agyemang is held like a long-lost brother at midfield.
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56 min: Just an embarrassing sequence for the US defense there, as Alvarado goes 1-on-2 and arguably wins. Then a desperate lunge masquerading as a slide tackle fails to do the task, and in the end, it’s a deflected shot/cross that Freese awkwardly punches out for a corner.
Then no one is marking Vega, and his cross slams into Freese and, to the US keeper’s relief, stays under him.
55 min: Tillman is mauled at midfield, and while our intermittently attentive referee blows the whistle, he still takes the time to let everyone know he doesn’t appreciate that.
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54 min: CHANCE for the USA, with Arfsten getting into the attack, faking out one defender and launching a shot that goes just over the far upper corner.
53 min: Presumably, the US will have another touch on the ball before the game ends.
51 min: CHANCE for Mexico, and that was so close. Alvarado, from near one corner of the penalty area, just misses the far post.
50 min: The Turf Monster causes a Mexican attacker to trip. About time the USA’s most consistent defender made an appearance.
49 min: Jiménez lofts a cross from the right flank, and this time it’s Freeman doing just enough to disrupt the attack.
Mexico attack again, and Richards has to scramble back to knock it out for a corner.
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48 min: Ream wins a header to stop a promising Mexican attack. It still looks too easy for Mexico to make incisive passes, while the USA have had … one? Maybe?
47 min: The USA start by stringing a few passes together, which is an improvement.
Second half is underway … and it’s still hazy.
Kurt Perleberg asks how far a full-strength US team can go in the World Cup next year.
I’ll say Seattle.
Stat time
Concacaf has some intriguing stats, including the aforementioned “touchmap” that was, until now, more or less devoid of US touches in the Mexican penalty area.
The Jimenez goal was graded at 0.149 “expected goals.” I’d have expected more. Freeman’s shot was actually higher – 0.152.
Mexico has a 5-0 edge in corner kicks, a 10-2 advantage in interceptions, and 298 passes to the USA’s 162. They completed 85.9% of their passing attempts; the USA clocked in at 76.5%.
The USA have an edge in something they probably don’t want – clearances (27-7).
Good news – the foul count has slowed. Just six a side at halftime, though the referee made several correct advantage calls and several possibly incorrect no-calls.
Halftime: USA 1-1 Mexico
Mexico have dominated, and yet the USA should consider themselves unlucky not to be up 2-1 right now.
45 min +1: A minute ago, the US had exactly one touch on the ball in the Mexican penalty area. They nearly made it two goals on two touches, as the onrushing Freeman heads the ball straight into the face of the fortunate Malagon. The ball stays in the area, and the USA have a couple of potential shouts for a penalty, though they don’t make a big deal of it. It ends up with Luna blasting the ball high.
44 min: YELLOW to Montes for banging into Agyemang as the US forward was about to get past the defender. It’s not a red card because Agyemang was too far to the side for it to be a “last man” situation (or “DOGSO” in ref speak).
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43 min: Winston Smith takes me to task for neglecting to mention Jimenez’s tribute to Diogo Jota after his goal. The soccer world is a small one in many ways, and Diogo Jota clearly touched so many people. Jimenez played with him at Wolves.
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42 min: Another corner, and two Mexican players are giving Berhalter a noogie. Not sure why our referee is allowing it to continue.
40 min: Mora shoots from 22 yards, and Freese probably should’ve held that ball rather than palming it wide and conceding a corner.
39 min: Berhalter has dropped to right back, with Freeman pushing forward. It’s working in the sense that the USA still have possession, but it’s not going anywhere.
37 min: The USA have the ball! They have the ball! It’s Tillman and Agyemang … make it just Tillman, because Agyemang has run 3-4 yards offside and doesn’t seem to have noticed.
But the ball is recycled back, and at last, the USA have possession.
36 min: Scott Martin writes: “If I were a player, in a sport that prioritizes cardiovascular and pulmonary health, I would not be happy to spend the entire first half breathing in whatever’s in the smoke unvented pyrotechnics leave behind.”
It’s certainly something Concacaf and US Soccer should address, but I wouldn’t hold my breath, so to speak.
35 min: I believe we could describe the US defensive tactics as “zonal,” mostly because no one is actually marking anyone.
Opportunistic shot from Alvarado, and Freese makes it look like a more difficult save than it should be.
32 min: The USA ramp up the pressure on Mexico in their own half, but the passing is so sharp.
I knew a youth soccer coach in the USA who insisted that 9-year-olds were too young to learn passing. I’m guessing there aren’t many coaches like that in Mexico.
31 min: James Dungan writes to say Ream hasn’t been a finals-quality defender for a long time. Perhaps, but that was a team letdown – as have the last 27 minutes.
30 min: As sunshine finally makes its way through the roof in Houston, the crowd chant “ole” with every Mexican pass. Aside from the early goal, this has been dominance for the “visiting” team with the “home" crowd.
Gooooooalll! USA 1-1 Mexico (Jiménez 27)
As I was saying …
It’s a good through ball from Ruiz to Jiménez, and the Mexican attacker unleashes the shot before Ream can get there. It’s drilled into the upper back corner past a frozen Freese.
Fox reminds us that Jiménez and Ream were teammates at Fulham.
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26 min: Arfsten rises to head clear a menacing Mexican cross. Like the pregame show, the US defense is playing with fire here.
24 min: A dazzling sequence of quick passes for Mexico, and the young right back Alex Freeman has to slam the door and concede a corner.
Mexico keep possession, and Mora launches a shot from 25 yards that Freese has to scramble to smother. Mexico’s total xG is now up to 0.07.
23 min: At last, the first dangerous moment for the USA since the goal, a cross the eludes Agyemang and Tillman but at least puts Mexico under some pressure.
Mexico head the other way, and Luna is whistled for a soft foul/hard dive.
21 min: It’s still hazy in the stadium. As I type, Justin Kavanagh sends me email with the subject “Smokin’ Game”: “It’s been a foul-riddled game being played in a foul atmosphere so far. The smoke of the pre-game pyrotechnics can’t clear because of the closed roof of this stadium in Houston. This reminds me of European games seen through a fog of the crowds cigarette smoke back in the 1970s and 80s.”
And beyond. When I covered the Women’s World Cup in 2011, German journalists were stunned that they couldn’t smoke in the press tribune.
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19 min: I have no memory of the USA bringing the ball into the Mexican penalty area. The goal came off a free kick that found Richards’ head in the area, but there has been no possession there.
We have a plea for a penalty from Mexico, but it was closer to a dive than a foul.
16 min: Mauricio Pochettino is livid on the sideline, probably flirting with a yellow card, as another foul goes uncalled.
In the mid-1990s, the USISL experimented with a rule in which the seventh team foul would result in a “shootout” opportunity in which an attacking player could start with the ball 35 yards from goal and go one on one against the keeper. Gimmicky, but the intentions were good.
15 min: That could’ve been disastrous for the USA, as a cross deflects, but Freese has time to reset his feet and collect cleanly.
That’ll give the USA a chance to break the pressure.
Mexico responds with … a foul.
13 min: Shot on goal for Mexico, but it’s a tame one. The xG on that should be about 0.001. They say 0.04. I don’t get it.
12 min: Mexico take some time to build patiently.
Concacaf is tracking xG (expected goals). The USA lead 0.04-0.00. Not sure why Richards’ shot would only merit 0.04, though there’s an argument that the pass never should’ve gotten through.
Now we have fouls each way going uncalled.
11 min: Sustained possession for the USA. More surprisingly, we’ve gone three minutes without a foul.
9 min: Credit to our referee for trying to put a stop to the nonsense early in the game.
Mexico, meanwhile, have stepped up the urgency since conceding. They didn’t really start passively by any stretch of the imagination, but they’re aggressively seeking a way through the stacked US midfield and defense.
6 min: Now two fouls each way. At this pace, that would be more than 30 fouls per team.
And another, as Vasquez bear-hugs Agyemang from behind at midfield and wrestles him down.
Goooooaaaalll! USA 1-0 Mexico (Richards 4)
Well now. That looked too easy.
Berhalter floats the free kick into the penalty area, and Richards ducks to get his head on the ball. It clangs off the underside of the bar, and in shades of the 1966 World Cup, there’s some debate over whether the whole ball crossed the line.
Oddly, there’s no goal-line technology here. Will we have a review? We will not. It stands.
4 min: More fouls, and the USA will have a free kick from about 45 yards out.
Joe Pearson asks if the roof is closed given the heat in Houston. It is indeed.
1 min: The US go direct right from the kickoff. Mexico takes it the other way but Jimenez bundles over Berhalter to give it right back. Agyemang answers at the other end, fouling Montes.
So … end to end action. Of sorts.
Kickoff: The smoke has not cleared from the pregame. Cough.
Judging by the volume of singing of the Mexican national anthem, it would appear that Mexican fans are in the majority here.
We’re getting a stock recording of the US national anthem, which means it’s moving far more briskly than the typical melismatic ordeal that live singers enjoy.
The pregame entertainment is a bit like the dancing fountains at Bellagio, but with fire.
Now both teams are taking the field as the Guns and Roses classic Welcome to the Jungle plays. I think it’s an improvement over the Champions League theme, but tastes may differ.
Before the game … the supporters’ costume contest.
First up, from the USA …
And from Mexico …
USA-Mexico Gold Cup history
Finals involving the two giants of Concacaf …
1993: Mexico 4-0 in Mexico City.
1998: Mexico 1-0 in Los Angeles.
2007: USA 2-1 in Chicago.
2009: One of the darker days for the US team – Mexico 5-0 in Chicago.
2011: Also a dark day for the US, which led 2-0 before Mexico rallied. Mexico 4-2 in Pasadena (Rose Bowl).
2019: Mexico 1-0 in Chicago.
2021: USA 1-0 in Las Vegas.
The USA also won the 2024 Concacaf Nations League final in The Giant Jerry Jones Cowboys Stadium outside Dallas. So they’re 1-0 against Mexico in Concacaf finals in Texas.
Lineups
USA will have no changes from the starting XI that beat Guatemala in the semifinals: Freese; Arfsten, Ream, Richards, Freeman; de la Torre, Adams; Luna, Tillman, Berhalter; Agyemang
Mexico: Malagon; Gallardo, Vasquez, Montes, Sanchez; Ruiz, Alvarez, Mora; Vega, Jimenez, Alvarado. Gallardo returns from a suspension that caused him to miss the semifinal.
The venue is the massive NRG Stadium in Houston, and it’s sold out. We’ll see the composition of that crowd at kickoff.
The referee is Mario Escobar of Guatemala. He also had the whistle for the 2019 final between these same teams, which Mexico won 1-0.
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Preamble
Welcome to one of the great rivalries in sports.
We’ll forget all the people who are not here at this point. We’ll forget about the fact that this final is the conclusion of a “regional championship” that included Saudi Arabia. Someone’s going to get a trophy here. And a lot of players will be trying to make their mark in a meaningful game, hoping for a good impression that will last until the World Cup rosters are made next year.
Comments are welcome and encouraged as always.
Beau will be here shortly.
Until then, read up on The US’s path to the final with Leander Schaerlaeckens:
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