Concacaf Nations League Final Roundup: United States 2-0 Mexico

Undoubtedly, the Concacaf Nations League has an owner, not only for this edition but in general: the United States. 

The team of the Stars and Stripes made the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, respected and was crowned champion of the second most important competition of this confederation, beating Mexico 2-0. 

In this way, the U.S. team got rid of the thorn of not having won the last Gold Cup, which was left in the hands of the Mexicans, who still do not know what it feels like to win the Nations League. 

When and Where?

Sunday, March 24, 9:15 pm ET at the AT&T Stadium

Moneyline odds:

Mexico 3.585

USA 2.13

Draw Offs: 

3.3

Where Can I Watch?

TBS and TNT 

Concacaf Nations League – Final Preview

The third edition of the Concacaf Nations League reached its final, and for the third time, the United States were crowned champions, this time after defeating their classic rival, the Mexican national team, 2-0 in the final. 

To reach the decisive match, the Americans had suffered a lot, having eliminated Jamaica 3-1, as they needed to go to extra time. Mexico, on the other hand, easily overcame Panama 3-0. 

It was the dream final for CONCACAF since they are the two most traditional countries in the confederation and also the ones that could bring the largest crowds to the final at the AT&T Stadium in Texas, which has a capacity of 80,000 people. 

First Half

As for the game, the first half had the United States in control of the play, handling the ball and creating more scoring options than their rivals. 

However, they had to wait 45 minutes to open the account. Weston Mckennie found captain Tyler Adams outside the area, who was unmarked, and took advantage of the situation to fire a mid-range missile that left goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa with no reaction. 

Curiously, in the last game, Adams, who has been recovering from a long-standing injury, argued and even shoved coach Gregg Berhalter. The coach left that fact as a match situation and used his captain as a starter for the final. 

Second Half

The second conversion came at 63 minutes after a bad rejection by the Mexican defense that Giovanni Reyna took at the door of the area to send the ball into the goal of “Memo” Ochoa with his right foot. 

Reyna had a dream semifinal and a dream final since, against Jamaica, he came in, took control of the game, and made two assists, and now he scored the goal that sealed the victory. A very different reality from the one he lives with Nottingham Forest, where he practically does not see action. 

After this second blow, Mexico tried to recover the thread of the match and looked for the discount that would make them dream of parity. However, the United States defense was strong and, once again, controlled the attack of their rivals, who had Uriel Antuna, Henry Martin, and Hirving “Chucky” Lozano in the starting lineup, in addition to putting Santiago Giménez and Orbelín Pineda in the second half. 

Post-match roundup

With this match, the United States confirms its paternity over Mexico, as it has now gone seven games without losing to this rival. The last defeat was in September 2019. 

In the first final, the North American team also defeated Mexico, then beat Canada 2-0 in the second one to become the most and only winner of the Concacaf Nations League. 

In the current tournament, they won three matches and lost another. Their only defeat was against Trinidad & Tobago, who beat them 2-1. 

Interestingly, the tournament’s top scorer was Axel Raga Rigobert, from the island of Saint Martin, who plays in France’s fifth division, with eight goals. However, if we count only the teams in League A, the top scorer was the Jamaican Shamar Nicholson (Clermont) with five. 

This was the tenth victory in a Concacaf tournament for the Americans, as they have seven Gold Cups. 

For third place in the tournament, Jamaica beat Panama 1-0 with a goal by Dexter Lembikisa.