With 2026 World Cup 15 months away, USMNT blows 'perfect opportunity' to build momentum

Fox Sports

21-03-2025

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — In a mere 15 months' time, the United States men's national team will open the highly anticipated 2026 World Cup on home soil in this exact same venue. At that point, the Americans hope that SoFi Stadium will represent something a bit more joyful. Because right now, the feelings surrounding the program are the opposite of that.
On Thursday evening, in front of a noticeably thin crowd, the USMNT were stunned when Panama substitute forward Cecilio Waterman converted his side's only shot on-target in the final minutes of stoppage time to clinch a 1-0 win over the tournament favorite. The U.S. has won every single Nations League title since the tournament began, and now with this semifinal loss, is guaranteed a third-place finish at best.
The USMNT will face Canada — which lost to Mexico 2-0 in Thursday's second game — on Sunday afternoon. Mexico and Panama will play in the final that night.
The loss was crushing to a team that is supposed to be in the midst of a progressive rebuild under new coach Mauricio Pochettino, who was hired last September. He replaced Gregg Berhalter, who was fired after the Americans failed to get out of their group at last summer's Copa América.
The USMNT only has two opportunities to play meaningful games before next summer's World Cup — this week's Nations League and then the Gold Cup, which begins in June. As a World Cup co-host, the U.S. doesn't have to play qualifying matches and needs as much competition playing together as possible.
They blew this first moment, losing to Panama for a third straight time in a tournament setting. The Panamanians have become the USMNT's bogeyman, beating them in the 2023 Gold Cup, 2024 Copa América, and now the 2025 Nations League.
"Where to begin?" Tyler Adams said when asked how the team can rebound. "It was a perfect opportunity to start that rebuilding process right now. It's a bit disappointing in my eyes. I don't know what we lacked exactly, whether it was that competitive nature, that mentality. But we need to look in the mirror before anything and just realize that, when we have these types of games, we can't wait for something to happen. We need to make things happen and put games on our terms.
"It just needs to be better."
In his post-game news conference, Pochettino repeatedly said the team lacked aggression and said the first half was "painful to see." Sure, Panama played a more organized and inspired game, and its 5-4-1 formation was tactically frustrating. But the U.S. couldn't win one-on-one duels, struggled to get behind the back line and failed to finish the few opportunities it did have in front of goal. There was a feeling that little things in the buildup were off, be it a touch here or a pass there.
Pochettino said the U.S. "played too slow" and that while there was some improvement in the second half, "you never had the feeling you can score."
It's not like these are new problems for the U.S. They happened under Berhalter and now they're happening under Pochettino.
"I've never blamed a coach in my entire career," Adams said. "I mean, a loss depends on the players. That's the bottom line. There was no lack of communication in what was happening today. We knew exactly what we had to do. We knew we needed to be competitive. I don't think we were as competitive as we needed to be."
The USMNT's best chances came around the 20-minute mark when both Josh Sargent and Weston McKennie had clear opportunities to score. Sargent's close-range shot ricocheted off defender Edgardo Farina and then hit the right post, while McKennie had a header on-target that went straight into goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera's arms. Patrick Agyemang was dangerous on a couple of occasions after he subbed on in the second half, but couldn't find the back of the net either.
"Sharpness for sure can be better," Adams said. "I'm not sitting here to make excuses about anything. We're not jet-lagged, we're not anything. Guys play three-game weeks all the time in tough environments in Premier League or whatever league they're playing in, respectively, and it's tough. I think we have new ideas in our heads, and you can tell we're trying to work through them for sure."
The reality of the atmosphere probably didn't help, either. SoFi Stadium can accommodate 70,000 people, and it was hardly filled at kickoff. Christian Pulisic may have seemed surprised by the lack of fans when the teams came out for the national anthems, but players said they weren't concerned by crowd size or support.
"It was 4 p.m. on a Thursday," Adams said. "I think people are working if I had to guess."
"If you can't get up for games like this, then there's an issue," added Tim Ream. "It's not something we look at. You have to find your own motivation."
The reality, however, is that a game day atmosphere is completely different when there's a packed stadium of home fans, which is what Mexico essentially experienced by the time it's semifinal match vs. Canada kicked off around 7:30 p.m. PT. SoFi was significantly fuller for the nightcap and when Raul Jimenez scored in the opening minute to give his side a quick 1-0 lead, it sounded like the place was at maximum capacity.
So where does the U.S. go from here? Should it feel concerned that time is ticking and the World Cup is only getting closer?
"It's football at the end of the day," Adams said. "You win some, you lose some. We need to start adding up wins though. That builds confidence in international football. You don't have time together, that's the bottom line. Like, we're not going to develop some crazy style of play all of the sudden and, you know, come out and play like Man City or something. That's just not what international football is.
"It comes down to the smallest moments."
The U.S. out-shot Panama 12-3 (five on target), had nine corner kicks and controlled possession. But when it came down to those small moments, the visiting team capitalized.
"They were hungry," Pochettino said. "That was the difference."
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman .
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