Mexico extended its record number of CONCACAF Gold Cup titles to nine with a late, dramatic triumph over Panama in the 2023 final, as super-sub Sanitago Gimenez scored a sensational wonder-goal three minutes after he came off the bench.
El Tri, under the direction of interim coach Jaime Lozano, lifted its first trophy since 2019 after the USMNT won the 2021 Gold Cup and back-to-back Nations Leagues (2021 and 2023) as well.
[ MORE: 2023 Gold Cup results, videos, analysis ]
Mexico looked like removing all of the drama and suspense with an opening goal in the 33rd minute, but Henry Martin was denied his own goal in a final after video review revealed an offside infraction during the build-up.
Panama were briefly reduced to 10 men in the 63rd minute, when Harold Cummings was initially shown a yellow card for tripping Orbelin Pineda in the open field, but center referee Said Martinez then rescinded what would have been Cummings’ second yellow card. With yellow cards ineligible for video review, it was not clear which member of the refereeing crew advised Martinez to reverse his call on the field.
With the game still in a scoreless deadlock, Gimenez was summoned by Lozano, an El Tri midfielder during the early and mid-2000s himself. Three minutes later, Santiago beat Cummings one-on-one in the open field and dinked a deft finish over Orlando Mosquera to send a green-clad crowd inside SoFi Stadium into delirium.
Fresh off a 23-goal season for Dutch side Feyenoord (15 in the Eredivisie), 22-year-old forward Santiago Gimenez delivered in a big way after coming off the bench in the 85th minute of Sunday’s final. Gimenez went past one defender and lifted a clever finish over the goalkeeper to win the 2023 Gold Cup.
DIFFERENCE. MAKER. 🙌
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 17, 2023
Giménez will remember this goal forever 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/TpEYEf9FDU
Mexico thought they had taken the lead, but a lengthy video review revealed an offside El Tri player during the build-up before Luis Romo found Henry Martin inside the penalty area.
After a VAR review, this goal does not stand for Mexico
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 17, 2023
The score remains 0-0 in the first half pic.twitter.com/TSwttfjTkb
Hoy #MéxicoJuega. ⚽️
— Selección Nacional (@miseleccionmx) July 16, 2023
Hoy #MéxicoManda. 👊🏻
La alineación para enfrentar a Panamá en la Final. 🏆
¡Juntos, @Corona_Futbol! 👑 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/NyBcWv9Xdi
¡LOS TITULARES QUE BUSCARÁN EL TÍTULO🏆!
— FEPAFUT (@fepafut) July 16, 2023
Aquí el 1️⃣1️⃣ titular presentado por el DT de #PanamáMayor🇵🇦, @T9Christiansen, para disputar la final de la @GoldCup🏆 🆚 México🇲🇽 .
🇲🇽 🆚 🇵🇦
⏱️ 6:30 pm
🏟️ @SoFiStadium
📺 ESPN y Star +#TodosSomosPanamá 👊🏽 pic.twitter.com/92VN57kTsb
The Gold Cup final between Mexico and Panama will kick off at 7:30pm ET on Sunday, July 16.
Below is how you can watch the action and this page will have live updates and videos.
How to watch, stream: 2023 Gold Cup final
When: Sunday, July 16 at 7:30pm ET
TV Channel/Stream: Fox Sports, Univision, TUDN
Live updates, stats: Online via NBCSports.com
Thomas Christiansen has done a superb job to guide Panama to the final. The group stage saw them beat both Costa Rica and Martinique 2-1, then they drew 2-2 with El Salvador as they topped Group C.
In the knockout rounds they hammered Qatar thanks to a Ismael Diaz hat trick in just nine minutes in the second half. That set up a semifinal against the USA and Christensen’s side dug deep to win on penalty kicks as Ivan Andersen put them ahead but Jesus Fereira equalized to set up spot kicks.
Facing a Mexico side who are solid but unspectacular, Panama will feel like this is their best-ever chance to win the Gold Cup.
After securing their spot in the knockout rounds thanks to a 4-0 win over Honduras and a 3-1 victory against Haiti, Mexico suffered a shock defeat to Qatar in their final group game as they shuffled their lineup around with qualification already secured. That result gave them a bit of a wake up call but they still won Group A. Now, Mexico are buzzing.
Mexico eased past Costa Rica 2-0 in the quarterfinals and hammered Jamaica 3-0 in the semifinals as they have now reached their third Gold Cup final for just the second time in their history. Despite all of the negative vibes around this Mexico side and the USMNT and Canada overtaking them in recent years, they are still a force to be reckoned with in CONCACAF.