Mauricio Pochettino's Side Falls Short in Gold Cup Final: Takeaways from USMNT's Defeat vs. Mexico | OneFootball

The U.S. men’s national team knew the importance of winning the Concacaf Gold Cup final, but fell short to Mexico 2–1 in front of a sold-out crowd of over 72,000 in Houston.

Although the crowd heavily favored El Tri, the USMNT supporters were vocal and heard throughout, especially in the early stages as head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s team attacked at a feverish pace.

The U.S. opened the scoring in just the third minute with a goal from Chris Richards, who headed home a curled-in free kick from Sebastian Berhalter to take the lead. Although the ball bounced off the crossbar and out, the referee deemed it official, even without confirmation, due to the Gold Cup’s lack of Goal-line Technology.

It didn’t take long for Mexico to respond, though, with Raúl Jiménez scoring in the 27th minute to tie the match. Edson Àlvarez then hit the back of the net in the 77th minute to win the game and secure Mexico’s 10th Gold Cup title.

Now, neither side will play another competitive game ahead of next year’s FIFA World Cup.

Here are Sports Illustrated’s three takeaways from the USMNT’s loss.

Missed Opportunity

There were some good moments, but the USMNT struggled on Concacaf's biggest stage on Sunday. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The USMNT had a chance to rewrite the narratives heading into next year’s FIFA World Cup with a win against Mexico on the biggest stage Concacaf has to offer.

Yet throughout Sunday’s match, minds shifted to the players missing. It was evident that a little more game-changing talent likely would have been enough to make a difference. After shutting out much of the talk of missing stars, the outlook shifted back that way, overshadowing much of the good that had come out of the run to the final.

While there were undoubted bright spots throughout the tournament, the end record has the USMNT only beating No. 100 Trinidad and Tobago, No. 83 Haiti, No. 58 Saudi Arabia and No. 106 Guatemala, while needing penalties to get past No. 54 Costa Rica, before falling to No. 17 Mexico.

The winning moments provided a couple of weeks of levity this summer, after dropping friendly results against Türkiye and Switzerland. Still, it was clear that the problems within the USMNT persisted, and they were once again unable to come up in big moments against a highly competitive side.

Now, Pochettino and the rest of the group will have to assess their performances not only against smaller teams but also against Mexico, Switzerland and Türkiye to determine what needs to be tweaked as they prepare to face much better competition next summer.

Berhalter Is the USMNT’s Set Piece Taker for the World Cup

Sebastian Berhalter had a standout Gold Cup with the USMNT. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

When so many of the USMNT’s key star players announced that they would not be available for the Gold Cup, the opportunity arose for other unheralded players to prove themselves, or, as Pochettino said ahead of the tournament, have "the possibility to defend your place."

While several players stepped up, no new face stood out more than Sebastian Berhalter. The son of former USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter demonstrated his versatility, either as a ball-progressing defensive midfielder or, as he did in the final, as a right midfielder who can play a balanced game.

Although he had standout performances across the tournament, he showcased his best skills against Mexico, starting with a curled-in free-kick to assist Richards’ opening goal, a similar play to how they connected in the 1–0 win against Saudi Arabia.

After that, he created two more chances and made six passes into the final third in a relatively commanding performance out wide. He also shifted centrally to allow the fullbacks to attack later in the game as can be seen in the map below.

Berhalter's defensive actions (triangles) and successful passes (squares) against Mexico / Courtesy of OPTA/Concacaf

Yet, his set-piece ability was the standout piece from this tournament. Tasked with the responsibilities from dead balls, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC midfielder created threatening opportunities unlike the USMNT has seen in recent years.

With that skill set, he likely puts himself in strong consideration for next year’s World Cup roster, and could potentially see himself as a starter, given the underwhelming opportunities other players, like Christian Pulisic, have provided from dead balls.

Race for the Roster Heats Up

Following Matt Freese's Gold Cup performance, the USMNT goalkeeper spot is one of many positions in question heading into next year. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Despite a lack of top-end players on this year’s Gold Cup roster, the performances from across the team provided a look at how the race for the 23 or 26-man World Cup roster could come together.

Throughout the tournament and in the final, the center back pairing of Richards and Tim Ream likely solidified themselves as the duo going forward. At the same time, Alex Freeman and Max Arfsten had impressive moments that could see them secure a spot in the squad.

Meanwhile, there were significant performances from midfielders across the board, with the likes of Berhalter, Luca de la Torre, Diego Luna and Malik Tillman all showing that they can play a key role moving forward, alongside Tyler Adams and the rest of the top-choice American players.

However, no position offers as much intrigue or competition coming out of this summer’s Gold Cup as goalkeepers, with no clear No. 1 heading into the future. Matt Freese stood out as a starter, having taken over the role from Matt Turner. All the while, other goalkeepers like Zack Steffen and Patrick Schulte remained unavailable due to injury. ​​

The final may not have gone the way the USMNT had hoped, but they certainly gained some benefits at the Gold Cup in terms of creating a competitive race for the World Cup roster.