The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California.
Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods.
Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time.
Photo: AP
Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat Canada 2-0 in California.
After beating Honduras in November last year in the Nations League quarter-finals, Mexico have won back-to-back matches for the first time since their run to the 2023 Gold Cup title.
El Tri won that trophy at SoFi Stadium, with Santi Gimenez’s late goal beating Panama 1-0 in the final.
For the US, their latest loss to Panama is a massive blow as their only chance to collect silverware before co-hosting next year’s World Cup with Mexico and Canada now rests with the June 14 to July 6 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The US came into the game hoping to avenge a loss to Panama at last year’s Copa America where the hosts failed to reach the knockout stage, a humiliating result that led to the firing of head coach Gregg Berhalter.
The US had several chances in the latter portion of the game as the toll of defending all night seemed to sap the Panama players’ strength and left them unable to generate much in the way of an attack until the late turnover.
The US remain the only team to win the CONCACAF Nations League — which launched in 2019 and is modeled after its UEFA counterpart — having triumphed in 2021, 2023 and 2024.
Canada would face the struggling US in the third-place match tomorrow in the latest international sporting competition between neighbors put at odds by US President Donald Trump’s incendiary rhetoric and tariff threats.
The 4 Nations hockey tournament last month featured Canadian fans booing the US national anthem.
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