For 23 fleeting minutes, the USMNT was atop CONCACAF. But it succumbed to a Mexican comeback, and, in the end, a better team. So it settled for second place at the Gold Cup.

The 2025 Gold Cup final, contested between the United States Men’s National Team and Mexico on Sunday, was already set to be a blockbuster affair. The two teams sold out 70,000+ seats at Houston’s NRG stadium and pulled one of the biggest soccer television audiences of the year thus far.