Mexico defeats USMNT to win record 10th Concacaf Gold Cup | OneFootball

Raúl Jiménez scored in the 27th minute, Edson Álvarez scored in the 77th and Mexico rallied to its record 10th Cocacaf Gold Cup title with a 2-1 victory over the U.S. men's national team on Sunday evening in Houston.

Mexico now has three more Gold Cup titles than the United States and has won six of eight meetings against the USMNT in the final. The win was Mexico's second consecutive victory over Mauricio Pochettino's U.S. squad and its first win over the USMNT in a competitive fixture since the 2019 final.

Chris Richards scored on a fifth-minute header for the United States, which was playing without several established stars during the tournament, including Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Sergino Dest.

But despite their early advantage, the U.S. was clearly second best for most of the evening. Mexico led 16-8 in shots and 8-3 in efforts on target,

Jimenez leveled the match on a wonderfully taken goal that further cemeted his status as the most in-form striker in Concacaf competition at the moment.

Marcel Ruíz slotted the pass to the Fulham forward about 10 yards out from goal. And with Tim Ream closing, Jiménez unleashed a sensational, sweeping left-footed strike that sailed into the near, top left corner before goalkeeper Matt Freese had any chance of reacting.

Mexico's next breakthrough came 50 minutes later from a set piece. Álvarez was initially ruled offside on the second header following an initial flick-on, but replays clearly showed Alex Freeman had played the West Ham midfielder on, and the goal was eventually given.