‘Fight Through Everything’—USMNT's Diego Luna Ready for Dream Gold Cup Final vs. Mexico | OneFootball

At the time, who knew a broken nose would change the course of the U.S. men’s national team’s preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup?

When Real Salt Lake star Diego Luna went down injured, clutching his face with blood in a January friendly against Costa Rica, few would have expected him to continue playing. Yet, the 21-year-old Mexican-American pushed head coach Mauricio Pochettino to stay on the pitch, eventually scoring the winning goal.

“I think that that experience for me was, I could say life-changing as it gave an opportunity for me to come back into more camps and show the type of the grit and the hunger that I have to play and represent for my country,” Luna told reporters of the moment ahead of this summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup.

“It showcases Mauricio liked that about me and liked the fight that I had. I think that shows other players that that's what's needed in this team and to fight through everything.”

When the Gold Cup approached, and the USMNT failed to get commitments from star figures like Christian Pulisic, among others, they found themselves in need of a leader.

Enter Luna. Over the last month, he’s been the much-needed emotional and footballing talisman, with his diminutive figure channeling flashes of Lionel Messi with faints and dribbles to bully his way past defenders.

And the celebrations say it all. Neck tattoo and bleached blond hair in all its detail in the moment, there’s an evident passion and desire seldom seen within the senior national team in a generation, since the 2018 retirement of Premier League and MLS standout, Clint Dempsey.

Through the Gold Cup so far, Luna has scored three goals and provided two assists, establishing himself in American soccer lore with a brace against Guatemala in the semifinals, which helped the team advance past the plucky No. 106-ranked nation that upset one of the tournament favorites, Canada.

Now, on Sunday, he has the chance to lead the USMNT into the Gold Cup final against Mexico, the country where his parents are from and the one many expected him to represent when he reached the national stage.

“It's going to be awesome, right? I've always dreamt of it growing up, seeing the USMNT-Mexico games and to be able to play in one would be unreal,” he told reporters after the Guatemala match. “So that'd be an awesome experience. And then from there, it's just a fight, a battle that you're going to go into, and we'll see what comes out.”

USA vs. Mexico Rivalry a Dream

Diego Luna has spent years dreaming of playing in the USMNT vs. Mexico matchup. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

For Diego, the youngest of four Luna siblings, watching soccer and, in particular, the USMNT vs. Mexico matchups was a tradition. While he bounced around from the San Jose Earthquakes Academy to Arizona and then El Paso in his early years of competitive soccer, the games remained a constant.

“When I was little, we would always have people come over and watch the game. The rivalry is a big thing, and I would always have my USA jersey on,” he told American Soccer Now in 2022. “I would cry when Mexico scored on us and I would tear up, and I would go around telling people to stop cheering - because half my family would cheer for Mexico and half my family cheered for the USA.”

As he established himself in the professional game, the questions grew about which nation he would represent. Yet, despite growing to respect his Mexican roots, it was always going to be the USMNT, and he’s taken that opportunity in stride since earning his first call in January.

“[His] attitude, hunger, desire, everything, and then for sure, the talent will appear,” Pochettino said after the semifinal win. "Diego was a good example from January [camp], how he is desperate to play for this shirt, for the national team, and that is why now he's at the level that he showed.”

While Luna has yet to feature in the matchup, the memories of watching El Tri and the Yanks will no doubt come flooding back when he lines up for the Star Spangled Banner – even with the crowd in Houston likely favoring the Mexican side.

“It's an honor, I am extremely grateful, and I think every single one of these players thinks about it the same way I do,” Luna said of playing for the USMNT. It's the number one dream that we've had as kids, and we're going to fight for this to have as many chances to wear it as we can.”

Olympic Snub, Broken Nose Fuel Luna

Diego Luna was left off the U.S. Olympic roster despite starring for Real Salt Lake in MLS. / Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Just over a year ago, as the U23 USMNT qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics, Luna was already starring in MLS with Real Salt Lake. Yet, even with his standout play, it wasn’t enough to earn a spot in the U.S. Olympic team.

That snub only fuelled Luna, and he went on to finish the 2024 MLS season with eight goals and 12 assists, before seizing his opportunity with the national team at January camp, and becoming its spiritual leader this summer.

However, if he had taken the substitution opportunity after breaking his nose in January, there’s every possibility he might not have gotten the chance that he has this summer and the USMNT might not have gotten the leadership they needed.

To this point, Luna’s career has been controlled by his uncomfortable and fear-inducing decisions, which he then overcomes, whether moving for his early development years or continuing to play with a smashed face.

It’s who he is, it’s who the USMNT want to be, and on Sunday, he has a chance to lead the USMNT to an eighth Gold Cup.

“I think it's the grit, it’s determination that we've been lacking, to be honest. It's fighting to the end, every ball, every moment,” Luna told FOX’s Jenny Taft after the Guatemala match. “The game's about moments, and I think this is where we showcase it. It's 90 minutes of hundreds of moments, and you have to execute on each one.”

“This [final] is the number-one dream that we've had as a kid, and we're going to fight for this to have as many chances to wear it as we can.”