USMNT reaches the Gold Cup Finals for a record 14th time and their first appearance since 2021
Match report
The national team of the United States Heren The final of the Gold Cup and illuminates the pressure on head coach Mauricio Pochettino prior to the World Cup of next summer.
The USMNT defeated Guatemala 2-1 on Wednesday evening thanks to a first half of the young star Diego Luna. The real Salt Lake forward struck twice in the opening phase, the second an astonishing individual effort that was fired from a distance beyond Kennerson Navarro.
The Guatemalans had already demolished the shock of the tournament by beating Canada in the previous round and they made life difficult for the US when Olger Escobar stopped the shortage with another ten minutes.
However, the USMNT could hold and book their place in the final of Sunday, where they take on the winner of Mexico and Honduras.
In the 2025 Gold Cup, USMNT came behind the back of a point of four consecutive defeats, which occurred about a new shame in home. But a much changed, MLS-Heavy Squad has succeeded in navigating the tournament well and is now only 90 minutes away from silverware.
Pochettino is hampered by the unavailability of a number of important players, the stars established in Europe that have been announced as a new 'golden generation'. Team Talisman Christian Pulisic is absent when he is based on the domestic season 2024/25, while Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Gio Reyna all traveled to the club World Cup.
In their place, Pochettino has given opportunities to lesser -known players from MLS and they have largely performed well. Luna is the striking, but striker Patrick Agyemang is impressed and Matt Freese looks like a real solution for the keepers of the USMNT
There is still a lot of work to be done to change this incoherent American team to one side that can claim at the World Cup of next summer. But there are indications that there are alternatives that go beyond the big stars, players for which Pochettino could now choose to give serious playing time.
Line-ups
United States XI: Tim Ream, Adams, Luca de la Torre, Matt Freese, Chris Richards, Malik Tillman, Sebastian Berhalter, Diego Luna, Alex Freeman, Max Arfsten, Patrick Agyemang
Subs: Walker Zimmerman, Matt Turner, Mark McKenzie, Miles Robinson, Brian White, John Tolkin, Brenden Aaronson, Nathan Harriel, Jack Mclynn, Paxten Aaronson, Quinn Sullivan, Damion Downs
Guatemala XI: José Carlos Pinto, Rubio RubÃn, Nicolás Samayoa, Stheven Robles, José Morales, óscar Santis, Pedro Altán, José Rosales, Aarón Herrera, Kennerson Navarro, Rudy Muñoz
Subs: Rodrigo Saravia, Luis Morán, José Ardón, óscar Castellanos, Kevin RamÃrez, Elmer Cardoza, Darwin Lom, ArquÃmides Ordóñez, Jonathan Franco, Carlos Aguilar, Erick Lemus, Olger Escobar, Olger Escobar