USMNT beats Mexico 2-0 to win third straight Nations League title

The U.S. men’s national team is the king of Concacaf once again.

The USMNT beat chief rival Mexico 2-0 — or dos a cero — in Sunday’s Nations League final to win the trophy for the third straight time. Tyler Adams, who was making his first start for his country since the 2022 World Cup, scored a screamer just before halftime, and Gio Reyna doubled the hosts’ advantage with just under a half-hour of regular time remaining.

Here are a few quick thoughts on the match.

This post will be updated

Play of the game

As a tightly contested first half drew to a close, the two sides seemed destined to head into the intermission scoreless. Then Adams suddenly found himself in space in the center of the field and fired a 30-yard rocket that beat a flatfooted El Tri goalkeeper Memo Ochoa and settled into the top right corner behind him.

It was just the second career international goal for Adams, who missed more than a year of action with the USMNT following multiple hamstring surgeries. The first also came against Mexico back in 2028.

Turning point

Even with most of the 59,471 fans in attendance at AT&T Stadium rooting for Mexico, the U.S. was in control after taking the lead. But the tension was still thick: the Americans were still just an El Tri goal away from being back on level terms.

Reyna changed by giving the U.S. some badly needed breathing room. Captain Christian Pulisic started the play when he danced past an El Tri defender on the end line. The ball bounced around the penalty area before being cleared, but only as far as Reyna just inside the top of the area. The 21-year-old hit a first time shot that beat Ochoa inside his near post, producing the famous scoreline that stood up as the final result.

Key stat

To the naked eye, it appeared that Mexico may have been the better team in the first half before Adams gave the U.S. a lead they’d never relinquish. The U.S. limited Mexico to just 39 percent possession and one shot, which was straight at home backstop Matt Turner and easily saved.

The U.S. dominated every statistical category by game’s end. Shots (11-6), shots on target (6-2), passes (382-326), pass accuracy (72-percent to 62) fouls and corner kicks (7-3).

What’s next for the USMNT?

The U.S. won’t reconvene until late May, when they’ll begin to prepare for a pair of pre-Copa America friendly matches — the first against Colombia in Landover, Maryland on June 8 and another versus five-time World Cup champion Brazil four days later in Orlando, Florida. After that, it’s the main event of 2024 for the USMNT, which the Americans open in this same stadium June 23 against Bolivia.

What’s next for Mexico?

El Tri will play three exhibitions before kicking off their Copa América slate on June 22 in Houston. First up are the Bolivians in Chicago on May 31, before matches with Uruguay and Brazil in early June.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports. He was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports before joining FOX Sports in 2021, and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.