Canada Beats USA 2-1 in Nations League Third-Place Match

The feeling is that the USA under new manager Mauricio Pochettino still has a long way to go.

Granted, missing mainstay starters like Ricardo Pepi, Sergino Dest, Antonee Robinson, and Folarin Balogun won’t help their odds much. It also highlights that without their best fullbacks in Robinson and Dest, the intensity felt lacking — it’s an obvious weakness that Pochettino will have to address. Still, only scoring a single goal over two games versus Panama and Canada will rightfully leave USA fans disappointed.

Tani Oluwaseyi kicked off the scoring in the 27th minute after a goalmouth scramble fell kindly to the Canadian, who slotted home past American goalkeeper Matt Turner. One of the few bright spots for the US today, Diego Luna, provided the assist for the equalizer after good play from Timothy Weah on the wing found Luna in the box, who laid it off for Patrick Agyemang and scored his 3rd goal in his fourth USMNT appearance. Jonathan David, who has been on fire at his club Lille, scored the winner after a sublime move in the box opened enough space for a left-foot far-post finish past Turner.

Canadian coach Jesse Marsch was shown a red card in the second half after he was furious that his side didn’t get a penalty called after David went down in the box, but replays showed he slipped under his own feet.

For Canada, it’s another big result against the USA after last beating them in September 2024. The Americans will have to now go back to their clubs without a trophy to show for it, after winning the Concacaf Nations League three times in a row and missing the ‘four-peat’.

Christian Pulisic’s post-game interview expressed disappointment in the performance: “Obviously disappointed, yeah. We gotta come back from this, we’re not at our best at the moment. All we can do is be an example at our club every day. When we come back, some things need to change and we need to improve. Hopefully, we can build some momentum this summer with the big competition ahead.”

Pulisic also played in a new role under Pochettino, who himself likened it to Christian Eriksen at Tottenham Hotspur. Despite lacking influence on the game, he insists it’s a positive position: “I like playing in that role a lot. In the last few games I’m not seeing as much of the ball as I would like, but I like it.”