HOUSTON — As the final whistle blew at the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup final inside NRG Stadium, the United States men’s national team looked deflated. They had just lost 2-1 to longtime rival Mexico, and the pro-El Tri crowd celebrated by serenading them with the song “El Rey.” U.S. heads drooped. Shoulders slumped, and all that was left was to collect their runners-up medals. Defender Chris Richards, whose headed goal gave the U.S. an early lead, wanted no part of that ceremony, telling reporters he threw his medal away.
But as painful as the moment was, it didn’t do justice to what took place over the past 40 days. Starting with the day this young U.S. team first opened training camp in Chicago, this was a side that showed impressive growth, moving past the humiliation of a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Switzerland to reach a Gold Cup final. When the tournament started, that had looked beyond their capabilities. The team experienced playing knockout games in front of hostile crowds and while the competition wasn’t the most onerous, particularly in the group stage, the U.S. found ways to get results, and gained experience in the process.
Along the way, several players made significant strides. Center back Richards cemented his role in the starting XI, regardless of who else might be available. Others, like midfielders Diego Luna and Malik Tillman, continued their rise up the USMNT ladder. Then there were new arrivals such as goalkeeper Matt Freese, right back Alex Freeman and midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, who all made positive contributions to the U.S. effort.
Will all of these players be on next year’s FIFA World Cup roster? Certainly not. But they’ll need to be ready should the opportunity arise, and they’ve taken steps in that direction.
“I said to the boys in the locker room: giving ourselves the opportunity to play in the final was the most impressive part of this tournament,” said midfielder Tyler Adams. “It was a learning experience for every single person in this team.
“For some guys, it was the first time playing against Mexico, so to come down here and play in front of however many thousand fans … The guys were resilient. We battled, and that’s the most positive thing you can take away from it: we battled. I’m happy with the effort from every single player.”
This isn’t to say that their collective progress was linear, and Sunday’s final was chock-full of difficult lessons. Finishing has to be clinical, and Luna will rue his first-half shot on goal that flew over the bar. Marking on set pieces needs to be touch-tight, and Patrick Agyemang needed to do better in challenging Johan Vásquez for the header that set up Edson Álvarez’s game winner. Tillman delivered an uneven performance at an inopportune time.
Some players also got the full Concacaf experience of playing against Mexico in a venue full of El Tri fans, as well as the fickle nature of Concacaf refereeing. This included a missed handball in the box by Mexico defender Jorge Sánchez in the 66th minute, as well as a soft foul on Luna that was a prelude to Álvarez’s goal. U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino called the non-call on the handball incident “embarrassing.”
Richards added that Álvarez’s goal, initially flagged for offside, shouldn’t have stood. He said: “I think the thing about Concacaf is that I feel like we’re always one step behind with the refereeing. Homie palmed the ball like Shaq in the box. And then at the other end we had a block who was offside, and in any other league would’ve been called offside.
“But again, that’s Concacaf for you. They hate us, and we just have to keep moving with it.”
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Pochettino talks ’embarrassing’ no-call on apparent Mexico handball
USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino talks about a penalty not being issued after Mexico’s Jorge Sánchez’s apparent handball in the box.
All that said, Mexico were deserved winners. They had more of their first-choice players available, and it showed. The USMNT struggled to defend the near-post corners that Mexico threw at them, including the game winner. More critically, the longtime U.S. weakness when it comes to keeping possession was on display again. Playing out of the back was brutal to watch at times. Possession was given away cheaply. Some of that is down to the inexperience of the squad, but even some veterans weren’t immune. The lessons never stop coming, no matter a player’s age.
One question going forward is whether some of these young players who have taken positive steps at international level continue on that path, heeding the lessons the game is giving them. They’ll need to be given a chance first, with September’s international window the first opportunity. Veteran defender Tim Ream feels like this group is ready, but the onus is on them to move forward.
“I said it to a few of ’em the other day after the first knockout game, they’re no longer inexperienced,” Ream said. “They’ve now experienced something, and they have to use that. They have to learn from it and understand what it takes to get a game over the line and they will. They’ve taken everything on board for the past five weeks and it’s been impressive to see all of them adapt and learn on the fly really and contribute in big ways.”
There were lessons for Pochettino and the staff too. The Gold Cup was their first international tournament, and Pochettino now has a better idea of who can help and who can’t. However, that will be an ongoing challenge.
September is a time when the likes of Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Timothy Weah and others should be available. But Pochettino didn’t sound inclined to automatically bring them back, saying he would examine every player to see where they are at in terms of form, fitness and attitude. Nothing is guaranteed.
The biggest reason for Pochettino’s reticence is the bond that was formed between these players and his staff over the course of those 40 days. It started with long days on the training field, and that morphed into a grit and desire within the team that Pochettino clearly values, which was absent during the Concacaf Nations League last March. Pochettino seemed to fall more in love with this group with each passing game. That isn’t something he’ll just cast aside. Adams, for one, doesn’t think Pochettino is bluffing.
“I think [the attitude] has to translate right away, or I think Mauricio just probably won’t call people in,” Adams said. “Because the culture that we have, it doesn’t matter who you are. If it’s guys here that played well, if it’s guys coming back into the group, if you’re coming back from injury, just whatever it is, the culture and the emotion is the first thing that he wants to see and I think that’s going to lead to positive results.”
Some of the players in this squad will clearly be included in September, a group that will likely include Richards, Ream, midfielder Luca de la Torre, Luna and Tillman. So how might the attitude within the Gold Cup roster be transferred to the group that is named in September, which is bound to see some different faces?
“I think we understand what the standard is now,” Ream said. “We understand what we need to do on and off the field. We understand what kind of culture is wanted from us. It took a little bit longer than it probably should have, but guys are going to be coming in and out. This group will more than likely not be the same group, it won’t be exactly the same again. And it’s down to us players to kind of drive home the ideas that they want, the culture that they’ve created.”
Ream noted that a new generation of leaders is emerging, Richards among them. When September comes, they are the ones who will be counted on to deliver Pochettino’s message.
“Empower them to speak up, empower them to make sure that they’re doing the exact same things at their club that they would do here,” Ream said. “Make sure that if they are, whoever’s in the next camp picks up where we left off. And again, it’s not just created on the field. That’s a lot of off-field stuff and I think that’s been one of the biggest keys for us in this camp and bringing so many guys along. And yeah, it’s just going to be down to everyone to make sure we drive that idea home.”
Will the ideas be received? They’ll need to be for this team to move forward and reach its goal of going deep in next year’s World Cup.
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