CHICAGO (July 5, 2019) – The U.S. Men’s National Team enters a tournament-record 11th Gold Cup Final when they face regional rival Mexico on Sunday, July 7 at sold-out Soldier Field in Chicago. Coverage of USA-Mexico begins at 9 p.m. ET on FS1, Univision, UDN and the Futbol de Primera Radio Networks. Fans can follow all the matches on the official U.S. Soccer app, as well as Facebook, Twitter (@USMNT and Instagram (@USMNT) accounts.
Enduring muggy conditions and an 87-minute weather delay in the middle of the first half, the U.S. Men’s National Team battled past Jamaica 3-1 before 28,473 rain-soaked fans at Nissan Stadium. Christian Pulisic earned ussoccer.com Man of the Match honors with a pair of second half goals, piggybacking on Weston McKennie’s opener to put the USA within reach of a seventh confederation championship. The victory marked the USA’s 10th straight in Concacaf Gold Cup play (July 12, 2017-July 3, 2019), extending a new team record for consecutive wins in the tournament.
Wednesday’s win against Jamaica extended the new USMNT record for consecutive wins at the Concacaf Gold Cup to 10 (July 12, 2017-July 2, 2019).
The USMNT is 26-7-5 all-time in the Gold Cup knockout rounds and 10-3-1 in semifinal matches.
The USA extended its record streak by scoring in its 29th consecutive Gold Cup match. The U.S. has not been shut out in the competition since the 2009 Gold Cup final.
The USMNT has won five consecutive games, their longest winning streak since winning five straight in the 2017 Gold Cup.
Shamar Nicholson’s 69th minute goal was the first conceded by the USMNT at the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup and ended the team’s shutout streak at 483 minutes.
Ten players have contributed either a goal or assist in the tournament so far: Pulisic (3g, 3a), Zardes (3g), Arriola (2g, 1a), Boyd (2g) Long (2g), McKennie (2g, 1a), Morris (2a), Altidore (1g, 1a), Bradley (1a), Lima (1a)
Christian Pulisic scored goals in the 52nd and 87th minutes against Jamaica to take his career tally to 13. The 20-year-old also moved into a tie with Gyasi Zardes for the joint team scoring lead at the 2019 Gold Cup with three goals.
Christian Pulisic has registered a Gold Cup-leading three assists (tied with Canada’s Alphonso Davies) in the 2019 tournament. With his next assist, he will become the 12th player in USMNT history with 10+ goals and 10+ assists for his country, joining: Landon Donovan (57g, 58a), Clint Dempsey (57g, 21a), Jozy Altidore (42g, 13a), Eric Wynalda (34g, 16a), Brian McBride (30g, 10a), Michael Bradley (17g, 23a), Joe-Max Moore (24g, 14a), Cobi Jones (15g, 22a), DaMarcus Beasley (17g, 13a), Earnie Stewart (17g, 10a) and Eddie Lewis (10g, 16a).
The USMNT is 8-2-1 in 2019, having kept a clean sheet in seven of the eight wins.
As of June 18, 2019, the U.S. roster has an average age of 25 years, 251 days and 24 caps.
Ten players on the roster have previous Gold Cup experience, led by Michael Bradley (4 tournaments), Jozy Altidore, Omar Gonzalez and Sean Johnson (3), Tim Ream and Gyasi Zardes (2), and Paul Arriola, Matt Miazga Jordan Morris and Cristian Roldan (1)
Of the 10 players above, only Tim Ream was not part of the 2017 Gold Cup championship squad.
A majority of the roster comes from Major League Soccer, with 17 players representing 12 clubs.
Six players come from clubs outside of MLS, with four from England, and one each from Germany and Portugal
Along with most tournament’s played, Bradley leads all players on the roster with 24 Gold Cup appearances, followed by Zardes (15), Altidore (12), Gonzalez (11), Jordan Morris (10) and Paul Arriola (9).
Michael Bradley made his 24th Gold Cup appearance against Jamaica, tying Clint Dempsey for second on the USMNT’s all-time tournament caps list.
Jozy Altidore’s assist on McKennie’s goal against Jamaica was the 14th of his international career, moving him into a tie with Joe-Max Moore and Tab Ramos for eighth on the USMNT’s all-time assist list. It's his first international assist since June 2017.
Arriola and Zardes made their team-leading 10th appearances of 2019 against Jamaica. Through ffive matches, 22 players have started at least one game. Only goalkeeper Tyler Miller has yet to make an appearance in the tournament.
Nine players on the roster have registered goals in the Gold Cup: Altidore (5), Zardes (4), Bradley, Gonzalez, Morris and Pulisic (3 each), Arriola, Boyd, Long and McKennie (2 each), and Miazga (1).
Only five players were born when the USA won the inaugural Gold Cup title in 1991: Altidore, Bradley, Gonzalez Johnson and Ream
Beginning with the inaugural title in 1991, the U.S. has lifted the Gold Cup on six occasions. The USA returned the trophy home in 2002 and won again in 2005, 2007, 2013 and 2017.
The USA has more wins in the Concacaf Gold Cup than any other nation, going 61-8-9 all-time.
The U.S. has gone an impressive 36-1-4 during the Group Stage.
The USMNT has advanced to the final on 11 occasions: 1991, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2019.
With the USA’s win on Wednesday and Mexico’s 1-0 extra time victory against Haiti on Tuesday night in Phoenix, the two Concacaf giants will meet in the Gold Cup Final for the sixth time in tournament history.
“There’s nothing better than playing in a final,” Michael Bradley said of the USA’s coming appearance in a record 11th Gold Cup Final. “As athletes, as competitors, you want to play in the biggest moments, when everything is on the line and a final is just that. When you add in the fact that it’s Mexico, our big rival where there’s so much history, passion, respect, it makes it even better.”
If the USA should win, it would move level with Mexico with seven Gold Cup titles. And while El Trí holds a 4-1-0 edge in Gold Cup Final play, the USA’s one win came during the 2007 match at Chicago’s Soldier Field, site of Sunday’s match and just steps away from U.S. Soccer headquarters. The U.S. also captured the 2013 championship in this stadium, a Brek Shea goal lifting the USA to a 1-0 shutout win against Panama.
The USA is a perfect 6-0-0 all-time in matches against Concacaf opponents at Soldier Field.
The USA meets Mexico for the 69th time on Sunday, by far the most matches played against any international opponents.
While the MNT trails the all-time series dating back to 1934 with an 19-34-15 mark, the last two decades have tipped the scales. Since 2000, the USA holds a 14-7-6 record.
The most memorable and highest-stakes match between the sides came in the Round of 16 at the 2002 FIFA World Cup when the U.S. used goals from Brian McBride and Landon Donovan to earn a 2-0 victory.
In the most recent meeting, the USA used a goal from Tyler Adams to earn a 1-0 victory in a friendly on Sept. 11, 2018 in Nashville.
Mexico sits 18th in the latest FIFA Coca-Cola World Ranking.
El Trí is coached by former Argentina, Paraguay and FC Barcelona manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino. Prior to taking over as Mexico head coach in January, Martino led Atlanta United FC to the 2018 MLS Cup.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: 7-0 W vs. Cuba (June 15; group stage), 3-1 W vs. Canada (June 19; group stage), 3-2 W vs. Martinique (June 23; group stage), 1-1 D and 5-4 PK vs. Costa Rica (June 29; quarterfinal), 1-0 W AET vs. Haiti (July 2; semifinal).
Mexico is playing in their eighth Gold Cup Final.
Fourteen players on the roster are based in Mexico, with seven in Europe, while the LA Galaxy duo of Jonathan dos Santos and Uriel Antuna play in the United States.
The second-most capped Mexico player of all-time, Andres Guardado captains El Trí, with goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa (105 caps) and defender Hector Moreno (99 caps) providing the bulk of the experience on the roster.
