Luna brace helps USMNT reach Gold Cup final, see off pesky Guatemala | OneFootball

Diego Luna scored twice in the opening 15 minutes and the U.S. men’s national team held on to book a place in the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup final with an unconvincing 2-1 victory over Guatemala on Wednesday night in St. Louis.

Matt Freese made four saves against a Guatemalan side that has clearly improved in recent years and one that pulled a late goal back through Olger Escobar in the 80th minute.

His late diving stop of José Morales' long-distance effort in second-half stoppage time marked the Chapines’ last gasp at a historic leveler, though replays suggested it might have struck the left post rather than the bottom left corner of the net.

That made it three consecutive games in which a heavily fancied USMNT has conceded, and two in a row in which they’ve allowed a goal in the last 15 minutes.

Even so, Mauricio Pochettino’s group secured its place in Sunday’s final in Houston against the winner of Wednesday night’s second semifinal between Mexico and Honduras, to be played in Santa Clara, Calif.

Same lineup, same Luna

The match was most revealing for two reasons: Firstly, it was the latest evidence that shows Luna is the kind of player who embraces the big moment. Secondly, it suggested Pochettino is a manager who prefers to back a consistent XI once a tournament begins, with Patrick Agyemang and Max Arfsten the most surprising inclusions in an unchanged starting squad from Sunday’s triumph on penalties over Costa Rica.

While Guatemala advanced from their quarterfinal without injured Columbus Crew goalkeeper Nico Hagen, it was fair to wonder whether they might have forced this match to penalties with his services when Luna broke through in the fourth minute.

After Hagen’s deputy Kenderson Navarro failed to hold Luca de la Torre’s initial attempt, Luna followed up and reached the rebound to finish from close range.

There was nothing Navarro could do on Luna’s brilliant second in the 14th minute.

Malik Tillman spotted Luna with an excellent cross-field pass. Luna broke down one defender off the dribble before firing an excellent finish between Navarro's dive and the left post.