The USMNT falls to Mexico in the Gold Cup final

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2 days ago

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🚨 Headlines
⚽️ Final Four: Real Madrid (Spain), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Chelsea (England) and Fluminense (Brazil) are the last teams standing at the Club World Cup.
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⚾️ Nats clean house: The last-place Nationals fired GM Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez on Sunday, parting ways with the architect of their 2019 title-winning team and their longest-tenured manager (eight years) since moving to D.C. in 2005.
🏀 WNBA All-Stars: The 10 starters and 12 reserves have been announced for this month's WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis. For the first time since 2011, three rookies (Paige Bueckers, Sonia Citron, Kiki Iriafen) will play in the game.
⚾️ Gambling investigation: Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz has been placed on paid leave while MLB investigates potentially illegal gambling activity. Two recent pitches he threw were flagged as suspicious by a betting integrity firm.
🏀 CP3's last dance: Chris Paul, 40, says he would play "at the most, a year" more in the NBA. The 12-time All-Star is currently an unrestricted free agent.
⚽️ Mexico 2, USA 1
(Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images)
Mexico beat the USMNT, 2-1, on Sunday in Houston to repeat as Gold Cup champions and snap a six-game losing streak to the Americans in official matches.
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Match recap: Chris Richards scored almost immediately to open the scoring for the U.S., which led for 23 fleeting minutes. From then on, it was pretty much all Mexico, which dominated possession (60-40) and corner kicks (12-0) as their "A" team outclassed and overpowered what was essentially America's "B-minus" team.
Controversial calls: Manager Mauricio Pochettino and USMNT players sharply criticized the refereeing after the match. They felt they should have had a penalty on a handball that wasn't called and that Mexico's winning goal should have been disallowed for offside.
"Homie palmed the ball like Shaq in the box. And then on the other end … in any other league, it would've been called offsides. But again, that's CONCACAF for you. They hate us."
— Richards
The U.S. starting XI prior to Sunday's final. (John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)
Tournament rewind: From Yahoo Sports' Henry Bushnell:
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Less than four weeks ago, the Americans were reeling. Half their A-team was missing. The other half headlined a depleted, makeshift, MLS-heavy squad, which arrived at the Gold Cup hounded by critics.
After a 4-0 capitulation to Switzerland, their fourth straight loss, "everyone basically counted us out," defender Tim Ream later said.
In reality, they were still the second-favorites; but among a disillusioned fan base, and among former players, doubts rippled.
In the sanctity of locker rooms and meal rooms, though, on flights and training fields, throughout their last true tournament before the 2026 World Cup, they jelled. "We have become a family," goalkeeper Matt Freese said on the eve of the final.
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And together, they strolled through Group D. They scraped past Costa Rica in a quarterfinal shootout. They survived a Guatemalan scare in the semis. They never wowed with their soccer, but they won back a skeptical public.
Over 3 million people tuned into their quarterfinal, and didn't see Christian Pulisic or Weston McKennie; but did see Diego Luna and a group of likable underdogs who, as Pochettino said, were "desperate" to "fight for our flag, for our shirt."
They came to Houston with some expectations already met. Their problem, though, was that they came with second-place talent.
The countdown begins: The USMNT's next official match will be on June 12, 2026 (340 days from now) when they play their World Cup opener at SoFi Stadium.
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Good read: The Diego Luna story (Henry Bushnell, Yahoo Sports)
⚾️ MLB All-Stars: Rosters announced
(Yahoo Sports)
The 2025 MLB All-Stars have been announced, with 65 players set to represent their leagues next week in Atlanta. That includes 19 first-timers and 11-time All-Star Clayton Kershaw, who was selected by the commissioner as a "Legend Pick" days after he joined the 3,000-strikeout club.
National League: No team in either league is better represented than the Dodgers, who are sending five players to the Midsummer Classic (Kershaw, Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith, Freddie Freeman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto).
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Six teams are sending three players (Braves, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Giants, Mets, Padres) and two are sending two (Phillies, Nationals).
Six teams will have just one representative in Atlanta, the minimum required by the league (Brewers, Cardinals, Marlins, Pirates, Reds, Rockies).
Biggest snubs: It's baffling that Juan Soto won't be an All-Star unless called upon as an injury replacement. Even with his uncharacteristically slow start, he's top 10 in the NL in WAR (3.7), OPS (.904), HR (21) and runs (65). Ditto for Trea Turner, who leads the league in hits, and Seiya Suzuki, who leads all of baseball in RBIs.
(Yahoo Sports)
American League: The Mariners (Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, Andrés Muñoz, Bryan Woo) and Tigers (Tarik Skubal, Riley Greene, Javier Báez, Gleyber Torres) lead the way with four players each.
A trio of teams are sending three players (Astros, Red Sox, Yankees), while five more are sending two each (Athletics, Blue Jays, Guardians, Rays, Royals).
That leaves five teams with the requisite one All-Star (Angels, Orioles, Rangers, Twins, White Sox).
Biggest snubs: How about four-time All-Star George Springer, enjoying his best season in at least three years and powering the Blue Jays to the top of the AL East? Or Astros lefty Framber Valdez (10-4, 2.90 ERA), Angels slugger Jo Adell (19 HR, .823 OPS) or Twins closer Jhoan Duran (13 saves, 1.56 ERA).
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Good read: One thing to know about all 65 All-Stars (Jake Mintz, Yahoo Sports)
🇺🇸 Photos across America
Fans at Coors Field watch the fireworks on July 4th. ()
Denver — All 30 MLB teams played on the Fourth of July for the third straight year as the league looks to plant its flag on the holiday like the NBA and NFL do with Christmas and Thanksgiving. "There's an opportunity for baseball to own that day," says commissioner Rob Manfred.
(Pedro Castillo/Real Madrid via Getty Images)
East Rutherford, N.J. — Kylian Mbappé's spectacular scissor-kick goal in stoppage time helped lead Real Madrid past Borussia Dortmund and into the Club World Cup semifinals. Next up: His former team, PSG, which knocked off Bayern Munich.
Cars navigate one of the 12 turns on the Chicago Street Course. ()
Chicago — Shane van Gisbergen won the third annual Chicago Street Race on Sunday, driving 75 laps through the city's temporary downtown circuit in what is NASCAR's only street race.
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New York — Joey "Jaws" Chestnut made a triumphant return to the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, winning his 17th Mustard Belt by eating 70.5 hot dogs (and buns) in 10 minutes.
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Fun hypothetical: Eat a hot dog. Run 100 meters. Joey Chestnut vs. Usain Bolt. Who wins? The PGA Tour posed this oddly fascinating question over the weekend to some of its players, who mostly agreed that the race is Chestnut's to lose.
🌎 Photos around the world
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London — Novak Djokovic earned his 100th career Wimbledon victory on Saturday, joining Martina Navratilova and Roger Federer as the only players to reach the century mark at the All England Club. No. 11 Alex de Minaur awaits in the Round of 16.
Meanwhile, on the women's side: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka fought off No. 24 Elise Mertens on Sunday to reach her 11th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal.
The peloton rides in the countryside during Stage 2. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Images)
Lauwin-Planque, France — The 112th Tour de France began on Saturday in Lille, kicking off a 21-stage race to Paris that, for the first time since 2020, will take place entirely within France.
Keira Walsh (L), Lucy Bronze and Leah Williamson look dejected after defeat. (Harriet Lander/The FA via Getty Images)
Zurich, Switzerland — England's title defense got off to a rocky start on Saturday at Women's Euro 2025, where a 2-1 loss to France made the Lionesses the first reigning champion to drop their opener.
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Northampton, England — Kick Sauber's Nico Hülkenberg finally got the monkey off his back at the British Grand Prix, earning his first podium (third place) after 239 Formula 1 starts — by far the most ever at the time of an inaugural podium.
📊 By the numbers
(Yahoo Sports)
🏀 7 teams
The June trade between the Rockets and Suns for Kevin Durant became official on Sunday and now includes the Hawks, Nets, Warriors, Lakers and Timberwolves, making it the first seven-team trade in NBA history.
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🎾 27 of 64
Of the 64 seeded players at Wimbledon, only 27 (14 women, 13 men) made it to the third round. That's the fewest at a Grand Slam since the 32-seed format was first adopted in 2001.
⚾️ 35 HR
Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh has the third-highest home run total before the All-Star break in MLB history — and he still has six games to add to his tally. The only players with more? Barry Bonds in 2001 (39), Chris Davis in 2013, Mark McGwire in 1998, Reggie Jackson in 1969 and Luis Gonzalez in 2001 (each with 37).
🎮 19-year wait
EA Sports delighted video-game fans last July with the release of "College Football 25." Now, the company plans to bring back its college basketball franchise in 2028, ending a 19-year hiatus. "NCAA March Madness" was an annual staple in the late 1990s and early 2000s before being discontinued after the 2009 edition.
📺 Watchlist: Monday, July 7
Emma Navarro celebrates with supporters. (Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images)
🎾 Wimbledon, Round of 16 | ESPN/ESPN2/ESPN+
Taylor Fritz and Amanda Anisimova are already in the quarterfinals. Will fellow Americans Ben Shelton and Emma Navarro join them there?
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Men: Marin Čilić vs. No. 22 Flavio Cobolli (6am ET); No. 6 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 11 Alex de Minaur (8:30am); No. 10 Ben Shelton vs. Lorenzo Sonego (9:10am); No. 1 Jannik Sinner vs. No. 19 Grigor Dimitrov (11:20am)
Women: No. 18 Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Belinda Bencic (8am); No. 19 Luidmila Samsonova vs. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (8:05am); No. 7 Mirra Andreeva vs. No. 10 Emma Navarro (10:10am); No. 8 Iga Świątek vs. No. 23 Clara Tauson (10:50am)
More to watch:
🚲 Tour de France: Stage 3 (7am, Peacock) … The third stage takes riders across gently rolling terrain from Valenciennes to Dunkirk.
🏀 NBA Summer League: Thunder at 76ers (7pm, ESPN); Grizzlies at Jazz (9pm, NBA) … In Salt Lake City.
⚽️ Women's Euros: Spain vs. Belgium (12pm, FS1); Portugal vs. Italy (3pm, Fox) … Group B action in Switzerland.
⚾️ MLB: Rays at Tigers (6:40pm, FS1) … Detroit (57-34) hosts Tampa Bay (49-41) in a battle of AL contenders.
Today's full slate →
🏀 WNBA trivia
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The WNBA granted expansion teams to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia last week, growing to a league-record 18 franchises.
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Question: Cleveland and Detroit previously had WNBA franchises. What were the names of those two teams?
Answer at the bottom.
🍿 Baker's Dozen: Top plays of the weekend
(Yahoo Sports)
Watch all 13 →
Trivia answer: Cleveland Rockers (1997-2003) and Detroit Shock (1998-2009)
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