THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL team lost 2-1 to archrival Mexico in the final of the 2025 Gold Cup in Houston in front of a sell-out crowd of 70,925 that was unsurprisingly heavily pro-Mexico. Ultimately the result was a fair reflection of the game where Mexico controlled possession and had better chances throughout.

Mauricio Pochettino started the same lineup in all three knockout games, three times in eight days. Also, he was slow to make substitutions, and it might have seen the team fatigued towards the end.

But the U.S. national team started off the game strong, and scored the opening goal in the 4^th minute when Chris Richards got on the end of a well-delivered free kick from Sebastian Berhalter and headed it just across the goal line.

BERHALTER ???? RICHARDS = ????

(via @FOXSoccer) pic.twitter.com/4W69F9eK1K

— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 6, 2025

But from there, Mexico continued to out possesses the U.S. team and equalized in the 27^th minute when Marcel Ruiz initially appeared to be lining up for a shot from just outside the box but then passed the ball into the box for Raul Jíménez who beat his former Fulham teammate, Tim Ream, before firing a hard shot past Matt Freese.

While the U.S. team stabilized early in the second half, Mexico again began to control the game before finding a winner in the 77^th minute when Edson Alvarez got on the end of a free kick that was flicked on by Johan Vazquez. Alvarez was then able to send a header past Freese from close range.

Ultimately, it was good to see the USMNT in a Gold Cup final after a semifinal elimination in 2023, but the loss against an arch rival will add more bitterness to a fanbase that has seen the team fail to impress over the last 12 months.

Here are some thoughts on it all.

Pochettino remains upbeat

After the game, Pochettino said the tournament was a great learning lesson.

“It’s a massive lesson for us,” Pochettino said. “What I’ve seen is priceless. It was an amazing tournament to realize the way that we want to grow... I think we’re going to find the way to compete better and better and better, to be very competitive and be in the place we wanted to be.”

We know Pochettino has learned something, but we don’t know exactly what. Mexico should be a team that the U.S. team has beaten plenty of times in the past. Mexico is also of the quality where they can beat the USMNT too.

It’s a team that the USMNT has been right there with for decades – it’s always a nice win but it’s never an upset for either team. A team of that level isn’t a benchmark for success.

The big question for Pochettino is what he learned about his players, and what he learned about how he needs to coach it?

Sure, there might be positives to take away from this tournament and it is possible to have important learning lessons on the field in games where results are disappointing. Especially when the tournament also came on the heels of two disappointing friendly results with the same roster.

But it terms of learning lessons, it will be interesting to see in September which players from this group Pochettino will take him.

An unfortunate type of learning lesson that it would be interesting to see Pochettino address is his substitution patterns, which often came late in the games and forced his same starting lineup to shoulder the load almost the entire knockouts. It’s unfortunate because the USMNT will only be playing friendlies until the World Cup and substitutions can be loose in games where results don’t matter. At halftime against Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico there were shortcomings on the field but Pochettino did not address them with various substitutions or feel the need to get fresh legs into games.

Where it went wrong vs. Mexico?

First, Mexico played well. This was their best game of the tournament and the team played inspired soccer. Historically, when things go poorly for Mexico, often it is because the team beat itself. I can’t count how many times I have said Mexico can be its own worst enemy.

In this game, Mexico conceded early but wasn’t thrown off its game. It was similar to how Guatemala responded well against the USMNT after Luna’s first two goals. Mexico raised its level once it fell behind. They were relentless.

But the USMNT also exhibited some of the same problems that it faced during the tournament.

The biggest problem is that the USMNT struggled to win the ball back once it lost possession. This led to the team chasing the game for long stretches. The midfielders and wingers were most responsible for this.

Tyler Adams should be one of the best players in CONCACAF given the success he has had in the Bundesliga and Premier League, but he didn’t have a good tournament. Without him on the top of his game, the USMNT is in a tough position.

Sebastian Berhalter showed some decent skill on the ball and with his passing (especially his set piece deliveries), but his defense, ball-winning, and physical play are a bit of a concern in the international arena.

The same could be said of Luca de la Torre who had been away from the team for a long time but still looks like the same player – for both better and worse. He has never been a physical player (it’s specifically why Fulham ultimately let him go for free) but decent with his passing.

De la Torre and Berhalter are good players, but are redundant – similar strengths (passing and ball control) and similar weaknesses (physicality). It seems like there is room for one in the starting lineup, but having both enhances the weaknesses.

The playmakers of Diego Luna and Malik Tillman were completely shut down by Mexico. With Patrick Agyemang being the player unlikely to create himself, Mexico put a lot of priority on Tillman and Luna – and it worked. Especially as the fullbacks in Max Arfsten and Alex Freeman were not pushing forward effectively. If the fullbacks were able to get forward better, it would have opened up the game for Luna and Tillman.

Moving forward

We know about the players who were not here. They go from well-established names like Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson, Sergino Dest, Ricardo Pepi, Folarin Balogun, Yunus Musah, and Weston McKennie to players who are young but have been part of the team a lot recently. This would include players like Tanner Tessmann, Joe Scally, Aidan Morris, Josh Sargent, and Cameron Carter-Vickers. This doesn’t even include Gio Reyna, who is in a messy situation with his club after his past four seasons where he hasn’t regularly played.

But here are some thoughts and best guesses that I have.

The ending Starting XI will be in the mix

This wasn’t the best USMNT that could have been assembled due to injuries, the club World Cup, and personal commitments but it wasn’t a “B team” either.

Any talk of this Gold Cup needs to be with the understanding that while the Gold Cup ultimately came up short, it was still a better team effort than the Nations League in March, where the team played worse despite Pulisic, McKennie, and others.

Heading into September, Pochettino will likely bring back many key players who weren’t at the Gold Cup, but there will still be some continuity with this Gold Cup team.

As mentioned, Pochettino kept his starting XI consistent for the last three games. It is hard to see those players continue to start in these games and then suddenly get dropped from September. Pochettino wanted to build something at this Gold Cup and it would be a lost cause if the players who played the most do not continue.

Many might not start in September, but on a roster of 26 players – there are 15 non-starters. It is a big team. Many of the Gold Cup starters will continue to be in the mix and will likely be there in September.

Depth building and competition

Pochettino likely wants to build up enough depth where he is comfortable with several options and players know what he wants from them. He also wants to create a competitive environment for call-ups. There were likely a lot of players who were surprised not to be called up to this tournament – Sargent, Tessmann, Scally, etc. But not making this team should light a fire under them. It should also inspire those who earned Gold Cup call-ups to keep progressing.

But here are a few players who should leave the Gold Cup feeling inspired.

Matt Freese: Despite the bad mistake in the game against Haiti, Freese played well overall and he made some nice saves. His best outing came in the shootout against Costa Rica where he made three stops to help the team prevail. It’s probably too early to say he is the No. 1, especially if Matt Turner makes a move this summer and starts to play again. But it’s hard to envision a situation where Freese doesn’t make the upcoming rosters altogether. Right now, it seems like he is a good bet to make the World Cup team next summer.

Malik Tillman: His club resume has always been good but this past year he took his game to new heights with PSV. Still, his performances for the USMNT have always been lacking. But in this tournament, Tillman finally started to play like the level he shows in the Eredivisie and Champions League. Based on what Pochettino has said of Tillman, it is easy to see Tillman having a big role in the team moving forward as opposed to being an option off the bench, which had been typical.

Chris Richards: like Tillman, Richards is someone who has never seen strong club play translate over to the USMNT until recently. Richards was very good in this tournament and looks like a lock starter in the backline. It has been a long time since a central defender 25 or under has strongly impressed for the USMNT. It was very important for him to do so.

Diego Luna: Like Tillman, Luna had a very good tournament despite a bad final. He shows up, plays hard, and he is capable of making the big play. More importantly, his enthusiasm is contagious among his teammates. He was a bubble player at the start of the year (after being cut from the Olympic team last summer), and now he’d be in anyone’s 26-man USMNT roster.

Max Arfsten: Defensively, he has holes, although he was better in the final two games. But he had four goal contributions in this tournament and did enough to remain in the staring lineup over John Tolkin. The problem for Arfsten is that he’s not a traditional left back. He is a winger who has, only relatively recently, been converted to a left wingback by Wilfried Nancy in Columbus. But now with the USMNT, he’s not a winger or a wingback, he’s asked to play a traditional left back. He has his ups and downs but leaves this tournament as a potential backup to Antonee Robinson and is probably ahead of more expected candidates such as Tolkin or Caleb Wiley.

Sebastian Berhalter: The Vancouver midfielder is good is some aspects but struggles in others. As mentioned, his weaknesses were magnified by playing with Luca de la Torre who had the same strengths and weaknesses. But there is probably a role for him on this team if the other midfielders on the team are more physical. He can pass and he also was consistently good with his set piece deliveries – which is something the USMNT has struggled with for years.

Alex Freeman: The Orlando City right back handles the physical side of the game very well and can cover the endlines well. Expectations were probably muted given that this is only his first season as a starter for his club and his call-up might be a future play. Yes, he was green at times in this tournament and he made the mistakes you’d expect from someone so inexperienced. In the end, however, he did show his upside and the fact that he could be improving quickly to the point where next year he is a good backup for Dest. 

Notes on other players

Some players are probably leaving his camp feeling more concerned about their role moving forwards. But some of the disappointed players are worth mentioning.

Patrick Agyemang showed himself to be a physical force and was auditioning to be a backup to Pepi or Balogun. But the number of missed chances and the inability to create for himself might have hurt his case.

Mark McKenzie came into this tournament as a player who was looking to strengthen his case as a starter next to Richards. But by the end, Pochettino continued to stick with Ream leaving McKenzie’s status as questionable.

Brenden Aaronson is probably among the most disappointed players on the Gold Cup roster. He played a lot of minutes in the Championship, helped his team earn promotion, and he frequently is complemented for his intensity and his enthusiasm – something Pochettino wants. But that did not yield to him playing much in this tournament.

Paxten Aaronson is likely disappointed like his brother. Aaronson was competing with for minutes with Luna and Tillman, and both of them played well. But the younger Aaronson might have been worth seeing in sub minutes, but Pochettino did not give him a chance in that role either.

Brian White probably wishes he could have had the chances that Agyemang had. It is easy to see why because White has been a much better forward in the same league as Agyemang. But Pochettino likely wanted more of a hold-up player who is more mobile than White.

John Tolkin saw minutes off the bench when Arfsten was subbed out, but Arfsten continued to get starts. Tolkin is more of a pure left back than Arfsten (a winger turned wingback) and it will be interesting to see if Tolkin can continue to build his case. Future call-ups will be harder given that Tolkin will now shift to the 2.Bundesliga after Holstein Kiel’s relegation and with Antonee Robinson expected back for the start of the Premier League season.