HOUSTON – Mexico beat the US 2-1 on Sunday night, in the record 10th CONCACAF Gold Cup title, Edson’s Alvarez scored a tie-break goal in the 77th minute after a video review overturned an offside call.
Chris Richards led the US in four minutes and headed for a free kick from Sebastian Barhalter in the tournament, but Raul Zimenez tied the score in 27th place with the third goal of the Gold Cup.
Mexico was awarded a free kick when Diego Luna fouled Alexis Vega on the flank. Johann Vazquez flicked the restart across goalmouth, and Alvarez passed the defense and redirected the ball from three yards within Matt Freeze’s far post. The play was initially called offside, but the goal was awarded by VAR, and Mexico defended the title from 2023, improving to 6-2 in the Gold Cup final against the US
Patrick Agyemang had a chance after two minutes of stoppage time, but he was not in good contact with a short distance shot blocked by goalkeeper Luis Malagón.
The 70,925-person sold out crowd at NRG Stadium was around 70% Pro Mexico, booing US players as they went out for a pre-match warm-up. Mexico ruled with 60% of its possession, and for Americans it didn’t give anyone 12 corner kicks.
This was the final competitive match for the US and Mexico before co-hosting next year’s World Cup with Canada.
Although he has seven Gold Cup titles, but not since 2021, he only used a small number of players who are currently projected to be World Cup starters, and used the starting lineup that missed regulars due to holidays, injuries and Club World Cups.
Coach Mauricio Pockettino used his absence to assess players who can do their job during friendly matches this fall and next spring, while Luna and Aggieman appeared as contenders for the World Cup roster spot.
Richards put the US ahead when he led a free kick from Bellharter about 40 yards from the crossbar. The ball bounced straight and crossed the goal line.
Zimenez scored the 42nd international goal, the third most common in Mexican history. He burst past defense, timing a pass from Marcel Lewis and defeated Freeze from around 10 yards on a shot that could have nicked defender Tim Ream.
Zimenez celebrated his former Wolverhampton teammate Diogo Jota, who died in a Spanish car accident, by grabbing the Mexico No. 20 jersey with a “Diogo J.” Jimenez ran to the corner and sat with his jersey to mimic the video game.
