The USA Males’s Nationwide Crew fell 2-1 to Canada on Sunday within the third-place match of the 2025 Concacaf Nations League. It is the USMNT’s second straight loss on this worldwide window after shedding 1-0 to Panama on Thursday within the match semifinals.
USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino talked about that “[Canada] goes to be a sport, an essential sport to see how we react,” he said in a news conference before kickoff. “We have to present character … It is not solely in regards to the outcome nevertheless it’s additionally about to enhance our efficiency.”
That enchancment by no means got here. A closely rotated USMNT struggled to handle Canada’s pacy, direct runs, and by the point the ultimate whistle blew, the 2-1 loss seemed downright flattering for the USMNT.
Canada opened the scoring within the twentieth minute when Tani Oluwaseyi capitalized on some poor USMNT defending to fit dwelling; the purpose was Oluwaseyi’s first for Canada, and it was at least he and the workforce deserved.
The USMNT, stung by that concession, lastly lit up and began displaying the “nastiness” it promised before the match.
A couple of sturdy challenges in midfield opened up house for Tim Weah to run down the left flank. He discovered Diego Luna in Canada’s penalty field, and Luna — regardless of fluffing his preliminary contact — managed to put the ball off to Patrick Agyemang simply behind him. Agyemang bounced his shot off of Canada goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, and inside moments it was 1-1.
Each objectives had been scrappy, opportunistic affairs, and each had been created by MLS gamers: Canada’s Oluwaseyi performs for Minnesota United whereas the USMNT’s Luna and Agyemang play for Actual Salt Lake and Charlotte FC respectively. If there was a shiny spot for American soccer on this sport, it was seeing MLS gamers like them step as much as the event in a massive approach.
Each Canada coach Jesse Marsch and USMNT coach Pochettino have been vocally supportive of leveraging MLS expertise of their lineups, and this sport confirmed why: when the going will get powerful and tactical shapes crumble, MLS gamers know the way to muddle by.
The second half was performed largely in entrance of the USMNT’s purpose, with ahead Jonathan David snatching the winner simply minutes after Marsch was despatched off for extreme protesting. The sport petered out from there, save for the late introduction of Brian White into the USMNT assault. He injected life and selection into the workforce’s efficiency from his first contact, enjoying together with his again to purpose in a approach that nobody else on the USMNT had managed.
Two Nations League video games, two losses, two wildly completely different lineups: followers of the USMNT will depart this window with way more questions than solutions in regards to the workforce’s readiness for the 2026 World Cup. They used to marvel about Pochettino’s imaginative and prescient for the long run; now, they marvel if he has a imaginative and prescient, interval.
For Canada, this win is one other step ahead towards long-awaited Concacaf dominance. The workforce has been pushing itself ahead at a outstanding clip for practically half a decade.
An surprising Gold Cup semifinal end in 2021 begat Canada’s second-ever World Cup journey in 2022; a robust Copa America efficiency in 2023 begat this stable run in 2024. The workforce’s progress is dependable and resolute.
Criticism of the USMNT depends on the concept that it ought to be beating its neighbor groups like Canada, however latest performances show that profitable is much from assured — not as a result of the USMNT is markedly worse than it was once, however as a result of its opponents are markedly higher.
As its Concacaf neighbors skyrocket up the FIFA rankings, it’s value asking the worrying query: is the USMNT nonetheless the strongest workforce in Concacaf?
Indicators level to no. And whereas that’s nice information for the area as a complete, it’s brow-furrowing information for the USMNT and its supporters. Regression is one factor. Getting outpaced could be very a lot one other.
In the long run, the one surprising factor about this Canada victory was simply how totally anticipated it was. Canada is essentially the most in-form workforce in Concacaf; the USMNT has fallen precipitously behind its neighbor to the north.
The USMNT will return to motion this June with friendlies in opposition to Turkiye in East Hartford, Connecticut, and Switzerland in Nashville.
