ARLINGTON, Texas — If we’re looking only at the numbers themselves, there should be no complaints about the United States‘ perfect three-for-three group stage run in the 2025 Gold Cup.
Back-to-back-to-back victories, eight goals scored, just one allowed — and all with an alternate roster that was missing a long list of key players, including Sergiño Dest, Antonee Robinson, Weston McKennie, and captain Christian Pulisic.
With a maximum total of nine points clinched, and with the backdrop of needing momentum in their final official matches before co-hosting the 2026 World Cup, the U.S. are now once again charging into the knockout round of the Concacaf competition.
Or are they?
“Overall it was a good performance, maybe we were not as [clincal] with the chances we had, I think we should have scored more,” said a not exactly celebratory head coach Mauricio Pochettino after Sunday’s narrow 2-1 win over Haiti at AT&T Stadium. “It was a massive challenge for us because it is a very good team that played direct.”
Although Pochettino did go on to praise his roster and a game-changing like Malik Tillman that opened up the scoresheet, one couldn’t blame the coach for looking more relieved than elated after the final whistle.
Looking back at the first half of the USMNT’s final group stage match, tensions were initially high early on after Haiti spoiled the American’s lead with an equalizer in the 19th minute. Pouncing on an error that involved defender Tim Ream and goalkeeper Matt Freese attempting to release the ball from the back, Haiti’s Louicius Don Deedson silenced the Texan crowd with his goal that leveled the scoreline at 1-1.
In response, the U.S. began to gradually create danger going forward but, as Pochettino noted earlier, there was no real efficiency when it came to their attempts in the final third. For long stretches of the match, the clash began to feel reminiscent of their previous result, a narrow 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia that featured a lack of dynamic play and plenty of predictable movements with conservative distribution.
Instead of a strong finish to the group stage, Sunday’s match was on the path towards becoming another wake-up call for a backup roster that, not so long ago, went through a four-game losing streak ahead of the Gold Cup.
Haiti welcomed the scenario at hand, eventually sitting further back and absorbing pressure as the U.S. struggled with breaking them down.
But Sunday night wasn’t meant for Tillman to be the much-needed savior.
Earlier on Thursday in their previous 1-0 victory at a sweltering Q2 Stadium in Austin, it was defender Chris Richards that saved the day with a second half game-winner, and on Sunday in front of a larger crowd in Dallas, it was Patrick Agyemang’s turn.
Thanks to a well-placed ball from fullback John Tolkin, Agyemang finally found the back of the net in the 75th minute after being unable to capitalize on a handful of chances beforehand. Looking just as relieved as Pochettino would later be post-game, the Charlotte FC forward sauntered over to the corner flag with a wide smile on his face, casually celebrating as his teammates sprinted over to embrace him.
Later proving to cement a 2-1 result in their favor, the victory and three points were well-deserved, as were the points claimed in the previous narrow win over Saudi Arabia, but the last two games were a far cry from the explosive 5-0 thrashing to kick off the competition.
Consistently seen as one of the title-contenders in the Gold Cup, June 15’s one-sided win over Trinidad and Tobago was more emblematic of how the USMNT are expected to perform in the regional competition. As for the last two results?
We’ll leave it to Pochettino when asked where his team could refine their strategy.
“Improve in all of the areas,” said the head coach. “Because we’re going to have significant opponents starting next Sunday [in the knockouts], it will be like a final.”
The USMNT passed their group-stage tests. It’s important to recognize that, but that’s not the goal for the national team that’s second all-time in Gold Cup titles. No matter what roster is sent to the competition, a spot in the final is the bare minimum requirement for those in charge who would admit that anything less would be a disaster.
The good news for Pochettino and company is that they’ll now have time to regroup for a week before their quarterfinal on June 29. Whether it be focusing on avoiding errors, seeking more attacking creativity, or more lethal shooting opportunities, there’s plenty of room for progress ahead of the knockout stage.
And once there, if they want to lift their first championship in the Pochettino era and earn an extra boost 12 months out from the World Cup, they’ll need to be more than just perfect on paper alone.
