The United States Men’s National Team fell 2-1 to Canada on Sunday in the third-place match of the 2025 Concacaf Nations League. It’s the USMNT’s second straight loss in this international window after losing 1-0 to Panama on Thursday in the tournament semifinals.
USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino mentioned that “[Canada] is going to be a game, an important game to see how we react,” he said in a news conference before kickoff. “We need to show character … It’s not only about the result but it’s also about to improve our performance.”
That improvement never came. A heavily rotated USMNT struggled to manage Canada’s pacy, direct runs, and by the time the final whistle blew, the 2-1 loss looked downright flattering for the USMNT.
Canada opened the scoring in the 20th minute when Tani Oluwaseyi capitalized on some poor USMNT defending to slot home; the goal was Oluwaseyi’s first for Canada, and it was no less than he and the team deserved.
The USMNT, stung by that concession, finally lit up and started showing the “nastiness” it promised before the match.
A few strong challenges in midfield opened up space for Tim Weah to run down the left flank. He found Diego Luna in Canada’s penalty box, and Luna — despite fluffing his initial touch — managed to lay the ball off to Patrick Agyemang just behind him. Agyemang bounced his shot off of Canada goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, and within moments it was 1-1.
Both goals were scrappy, opportunistic affairs, and both were created by MLS players: Canada’s Oluwaseyi plays for Minnesota United while the USMNT’s Luna and Agyemang play for Real Salt Lake and Charlotte FC respectively. If there was a bright spot for American soccer in this game, it was seeing MLS players like them step up to the occasion in a big way.
Both Canada coach Jesse Marsch and USMNT coach Pochettino have been vocally supportive of leveraging MLS talent in their lineups, and this game showed why: when the going gets tough and tactical shapes fall apart, MLS players know how to muddle through.
The second half was played largely in front of the USMNT’s goal, with forward Jonathan David snatching the winner just minutes after Marsch was sent off for excessive protesting. The game petered out from there, save for the late introduction of Brian White into the USMNT attack. He injected life and variety into the team’s performance from his first touch, playing with his back to goal in a way that no one else on the USMNT had managed.
Two Nations League games, two losses, two wildly different lineups: fans of the USMNT will leave this window with far more questions than answers about the team’s readiness for the 2026 World Cup. They used to wonder about Pochettino’s vision for the future; now, they wonder if he has a vision, period.
For Canada, this win is another step forward toward long-awaited Concacaf dominance. The team has been pushing itself forward at a remarkable clip for nearly half a decade.
An unexpected Gold Cup semifinal finish in 2021 begat Canada’s second-ever World Cup adventure in 2022; a strong Copa America performance in 2023 begat this solid run in 2024. The team’s progress is reliable and resolute.
Criticism of the USMNT relies on the idea that it should be beating its neighbor teams like Canada, but recent performances prove that winning is far from guaranteed — not because the USMNT is markedly worse than it used to be, but because its opponents are markedly better.
As its Concacaf neighbors skyrocket up the FIFA rankings, it’s worth asking the worrying question: is the USMNT still the strongest team in Concacaf?
Signs point to no. And while that’s great news for the region as a whole, it’s brow-furrowing news for the USMNT and its supporters. Regression is one thing. Getting outpaced is very much another.
In the end, the only shocking thing about this Canada victory was just how utterly expected it was. Canada is the most in-form team in Concacaf; the USMNT has fallen precipitously behind its neighbor to the north.
The USMNT will return to action this June with friendlies against Turkiye in East Hartford, Connecticut, and Switzerland in Nashville.
