The U.S. battled back Wednesday in a CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal at Snapdragon Stadium, but Panama prevailed on penalty shots to make the tournament final.
The championship game will be played Sunday at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles with Panama to take on Mexico, which won Wednesday’s late match, 3-0 over Jamaica at Allegiant Stadium in Nevada.
The U.S. and Panama, scoreless after regulation, ended up knotted up at 1-1 after extra time – Panama scored in the 99th minute and the U.S. six minutes later – but the Panamanians won 5-4 on penalty kicks to eliminate the U.S..
It was the first time in U.S. team history to have back-to-back matches with penalty shootouts. Forward Jesús Ferreira did his part, adding his seventh goal, tops in the tournament, before a Snapdragon crowd of 31,690.
The U.S. last won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2013.
The team had defeated Canada in their Sunday quarterfinal at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati – in the teams’ second meeting in 22 days.
The U.S. first beat the Reds, 2-0, June 18 in the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League final in Nevada, then won on penalty shots Sunday to improve to 18-10-12 all-time against Canada.
The U.S. advanced in the biennial international men’s soccer championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region by winning Group A with a 2-0-1 record, outscoring its opponents 13-1.
The U.S. ranks second in the list compiled by CONCACAF, and Panama fifth. Mexico is first, and Jamaica seventh.
The U.S. roster consists of 17 players who play in MLS, two each in England and Italy and one each in Mexico and Netherlands.
Panama won out over guest team Qatar in a quarterfinal Saturday to make the semifinal.
– Staff and wire reports