United States falls to Mexico in Gold Cup final

According to reports from NRG Stadium Houston, the United States national team had to acknowledge Mexico’s superiority with a 2-1 score in the 2025 Gold Cup final.

Chris Richards opened the scoring for the United States with a header in the fourth minute, but Raúl Jiménez equalized in the 27th minute — before Edson Álvarez secured Mexico’s victory in the 77th minute.

“It’s a massive lesson for us. It was an amazing tournament to realize how we wanted to grow, although tonight is very painful when losing a trophy,” stated coach Mauricio Pochettino.

Pochettino expressed his frustration over the referee’s decision not to award a penalty when Mexican defender Jorge Sánchez handled the ball in the penalty box — an incident he deemed embarrassing to ignore.

The Argentine coach also called for greater supporter backing ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted with Mexico and Canada. Meanwhile, Mexico’s coach Javier Aguirre celebrated his team’s tenth Gold Cup title after also winning the Nations League earlier this year.