The United States men’s national team are a team in crisis after following up a home loss to Panama with a 2-1 loss to Canada in the third-place game of the CONCACAF Nations League on Sunday.
MORE — What we learned from Canada loss | Player ratings | Pulisic reaction
Patrick Agyemang scored for the USMNT, assisted by Diego Luna, but that was the lone American tally and came sandwiched between goals from Tani Oluwaseyi and Jonathan David.
The U.S. men won the first three editions of the CONCACAF Nations League but finish fourth in the fourth tournament.
The Yanks will not play again until June friendlies against Turkiye and Switzerland on home soil, followed by the Gold Cup.
How to watch USMNT vs Canada live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 6pm ET Sunday (March 23)
Venue: SoFi Stadium — Los Angeles
Streaming: Paramount+
USMNT vs Canada final score: 1-2
Tani Oluwaseyi 28', Patrick Agyemang 35', Jonathan David 59'
USMNT vs Canada live updates
Another move
Brian White will be the final U.S. sub, taking the place of Agyemang in the 78th minute.
USMNT subs
Pulisic, McKennie, and Adams make way for Giovanni Reyna, Yunus Musah, and Tanner Tessmann.
Canada lead 2-1 into the final 20 minutes.
Did Christian Pulisic just deny his manager’s substitution?
Pulisic wins a dangerous free kick and it looks like it’s going to be his last play of the game.
Three players wait to sub into the game, and Pochettino appears to be frustrated as Pulisic demands to delay the sub and take the free kick?
Subs
Oluwaseyi and Buchanan exit for Cyle Larin and Jacob Shaffelburg, who has scored a big goal against the USMNT,
Agyemang wins free kick
Derek Cornelius chops down Agyemang a few yards outside the 18.
Advantage is monitored before the whistle gives the Yanks a dangerous chance.
Pulisic’s free kick ends with a free kick going the other way.
Jonathan David goal — USMNT 1-2 Canada (60th minute)
Arfsten loses a battle and it’s two passes before Canada retake the lead.
David sends McKenzie for a drink with a quick cut before screaming a shot around Turner.
Jonathan David with a perfect left-footed strike to put Canada ahead at SoFi Stadium 💫 pic.twitter.com/4dpMVzn5ZS
— Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) March 23, 2025
Canada wants a penalty again; Jesse Marsch sent off
David fires past Arsten, then cuts the defender but slips to the turf.
Referee says no call, and she’s right as there was no contact.
Broadcast says Jesse Marsch went into the US technical area to protest, and he’s rightfully sent off.
Jesse Marsch visibly frustrated after being shown a red card and sent to the locker room in the Concacaf Nations League third-place match 🟥 pic.twitter.com/i93Qkgkzl7
— Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) March 23, 2025
Oluwaseyi blazes over
Huge chance for Canada as McKenzie’s clearances is blocked sideways into the box, sending Canada’s goal scorer toward goal.
Oluwaseyi sends the ball well over the net. It should be 2-1 to Canada.
Canada wants a penalty
Matt Turner won’t love his goal kick that sends Canada the other way.
Adams has to deal with Jonathan David who hits the deck hard after mild contact in the box.
No call, and VAR agrees.
1-1, 51'.
Sub at the break
Marlon Fossey takes the place of Scally, getting time on the field just a few miles from where he was born.
Halftime — USMNT 1-1 Canada
It wasn’t a thrilling watch but it’s level and Mauricio Pochettino could make some interesting moves at the break.
Shots are 4-1 to Canada — snoring noise — but the Yanks buried their lone attempt.
Weston McKennie leads the game in clearances but and is all over the map in good and bad ways. There is no one accurately linking the back line and Tyler Adams to the attack.
Diego Luna has done some eye-popping things and Mark McKenzie aside from a hard-luck bounce has also been solid for the Yanks.
Alphonso Davies’ injury exit has Canada looking questionable out wide. Might we finally see some Giovanni Reyna?
Patrick Agyemang goal! USMNT 1-1 Canada (35th minute)
Really good from Timothy Weah and Diego Luna and the USMNT are level.
Weah gets into a dangerous space on the left and finds Luna inside. The 21-year-old Real Salt Lake star’s timing and touch are impeccable to cue up Agyemang.
There’s a bit of luck in the big man’s finish, which is hit low and right at Dayne St. Clair but has enough power to survive the goalkeeper’s calf and carries over the line!
That @MLS connection 🔗
— Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) March 23, 2025
Diego Luna leaves it on a plate for Patrick Agyemang who buries the @USMNT equalizer! 🇺🇸👏 pic.twitter.com/ePr5kinEIZ
Tani Oluwaseyi goal! USMNT 0-1 Canada (28th minute)
Buchanan drives into the box from the left side, his pass cleared in front of the line by McKenzie.
But no one’s tracking back and Ahmed has a chance to send the ball in again.
His effort ping pongs a bit, last hitting McKenzie before Oluwaseyi picks up the loose ball just outside the six and buries it to Turner’s left.
Tani Oluwaseyi nets his first international goal for Canada 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/ILRzoOZ54p
— Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) March 23, 2025
Canada forced into a change
Niko Sigur enters the game for Alphonso Davies after just 12 minutes.
Johnston will switch the right side.
0-0, 13'.
Johnston inexplicably dodges discipline
Celtic left back Daniel Johnston pulls a challenge out of 1980s Scotland and somehow escapes without discipline.
Agyemang is driving through the midfield and Johnston leaves his feet and goes elbow-first into the big forward.
Arfsten recovers well
Buchanan again arrives to the back post with intent, but Max Arfsten makes up ground and limits the damage to a corner kick.
0-0, 10'.
Right flanks in play
Timothy Weah and Patrick Agyemang but see chances blocked by Canada at one end, and Mark McKenzie steps in to defy a Tajon Buchanan chance at the other end.
0-0, 4'.
Good seats still available
A lot of them.
USMNT lineup and analysis
Turner, Scally, Carter-Vickers, McKenzie, Weah, McKennie, Adams, Luna, Pulisic, Arfsten, Agyemang
There is still no room for Giovanni Reyna!
Go ahead and guess who’s playing right back. Word out of California say it’ll be Scally as Columbus Crew youngster Max Arfsten goes to left back. Has to be a bummer for Marlon Fossey, who is very much a fullback and remains amongst the subs.
It’s a fresh back line, as Tim Ream, Chris Richards, and Yunus Musah all exit the lineup while Scally swings from left back to right back, as do Josh Sargent and Tanner Tessmann.
Matt Turner keeps his place between the posts despite an apparent error on Panama’s only shot on target.
Canada lineup
St. Clair, Johnston, Bombito, Cornelius, Davies, Choiniere, Kone, Ahmed, Buchanan, David, Oluwaseyi.
No Jonathan Osorio, Stephen Eustaquio, and Cyle Larin.
USMNT vs Canada preview
The United States men’s national team have a high-stakes, low-stakes affair set for Sunday in California, where they’ll take on Canada in the CONCACAF Nations League third-place game.
On one hand, this is a good test for depth players against a decent opponent. There are rivalry bragging rights at play but in the big picture it’s a chance for a handful of players to seize a moment on a national team missing more than a few key pieces. The opportunity may not come again.
Pochettino’s honeymoon period is over
On the other hand, it is a first chance for Mauricio Pochettino to lead his team to a bounce back from defeat in a World Cup preparation project that has raced into the windshield faster than a “Last rest stop for 100 miles” sign on the highway. It’s a scrap against a Canadian team led by the most celebrated American coach on the globe, a neighbor who has punched above its weight more often than you’ve punched at or below yours.
Pochettino’s bonafides are true, but so are those of Canada boss Jesse Marsch, who like his USMNT counterpart made his managerial bones in a fairly linear manner. Pochettino progressed from Espanyol to Southampton, Spurs to PSG and then Chelsea, while Marsch took a less traditional path: MLS to Austria, Bundesliga to Premier League.
But uncertainty filled the USMNT sphere once Pochettino’s men suffered their last-minute loss to Panama — a dominant but finish-free performance that suffers new questions from its timing. Pochettino’s substitutions or lack thereof are being questioned but the Argentine had to anticipate an extra time session that didn’t arrive when Cecilio Waterman beat Matt Turner to the far post moments from the end of second-half stoppage time.
And Pochettino has invited criticism with his explanations for the performance. Effort didn’t seem in question during the game, but afterwards Pochettino still mentioned the side needing more passion to fight for the badge. This was a sentiment proffered by Thierry Henry in a pregame-aired interview with the USMNT boss, giving the words an air of insincerity.
When will the USMNT’s talent truly mesh into a team?
The talent of this USMNT is undeniable but Pochettino’s draw was the respect he brought into the room. He has to be bigger than the egos. We don’t know how extra time would’ve played out. We know he was missing Johnny Cardoso, Sergino Dest, Antonee Robinson, Ricardo Pepi, Folarin Balogun, and Malik Tillman. But McKennie and Pulisic labored, the latter looking better late while the former toiled to the final whistle in a laborious performance that saw him out-of-place and a loser of 2-of-11 duels. Both are best when freelancing but there’s only room for one of them to do it and it has to be Pulisic. And while Yunus Musah was fine if not good at right back, he could’ve been an answer to a midfield connection issue while a natural fullback, Marlon Fossey, sat waiting in the bench. In a game calling out for a 1v1 hero, Giovanni Reyna and Diego Luna sat cold, too.
All that said, an apologist can make enough excuses to make Thursday less abject. The Yanks were dominant over 90 minutes and played on a too-narrow pitch (their federation’s fault, if anyone’s) against an inferior but tough opponent prepared to be packed-in together. Antonee Robinson almost certainly would’ve reacted different to out-of-position Joe Scally’s stoppage-time decision at left back that opened the door for Waterman to have room to shoot the ball. Turner, whatever your impression of him, saves that shot eight times out of 10. And the Yanks had more game-changers on their bench for extra time. This loss can easily become an outlier if the players perform Sunday, then in friendlies versus Turkiye and Switzerland, and finally a redemptive Gold Cup.
Can Canada pile the misery on the USMNT?
For now, there’s a change in storylines. Instead of a match-up with Mexico for a trophy and continued CONCACAF dominance, the Yanks are paired with an upstart Canada who has more often than not got more out of the sum of its parts than its individual names would suggest. In fact, if the Yanks out-produced their talent in the same manner as Canada, they would’ve easily made a deeper Copa America run (let alone probably smash Panama on Thursday). Marsch and his men will be fired up to prove themselves against the swagger-carrying Yanks. Will the Americans answer the call? The fact that it’s a question at all seemed almost absurd just hours before the semifinals kicked off in California.
There are major similarities and differences between the USMNT and Canada. The Canadian midfield is less complete and certainly shallower, but they have superior options at center forward (in this camp at least, though they failed to do anything against Mexico in the semifinal). Both sides are usually driven by very good fullbacks but the Americans are missing their elite one in Robinson while Canada have Alphonso Davies for this match.
What about heart, though? If there are similarities, Sunday’s game will be a great watch. If there aren’t, Pochettino will face bigger questions than he dreamed when taking over the USMNT for this home World Cup cycle.
USMNT team news, injuries
OUT: Antonee Robinson (undisclosed), Ricardo Pepi (knee), Folarin Balogun (shoulder), Johnny Cardoso (undisclosed), Auston Trusty (undisclosed), Malik Tillman (ankle)
Canada team news, injuries
OUT: Richie Laryea (leg).
USMNT vs Canada prediction
This won’t be a blowout. Jonathan David and Cyle Larin were both disappointing against Mexico but will find more joy against the USMNT. Likewise, Pulisic and the U.S. attack should have a lot more joy in more dangerous areas against Canada’s center backs and midfield. This could come down to goalkeepers, but it’s more likely to be about the middle of the park. And here is where the USMNT will deliver a win that will calm the room, if not the fan base. USMNT 2-1 Canada.
