USMNT vs. Mexico player ratings: Adams, Freeman struggle in Gold Cup final loss

USA Today

a day ago

The U.S. men's national team had a good run at the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup, but came up short in a 2-1 loss to Mexico in the tournament final.
The result was fair, as Mexico dominated the final 70 minutes to come from behind after a fourth-minute goal from Chris Richards gave the USMNT an ideal start. El Tri's stars came through when it counted, as Raul Jiménez and Edson Álvarez scored the goals to give veteran manager Javier Aguirre his second Gold Cup crown.
The USMNT will point to this being a more experimental, less experienced side than the one Mexico was able to call on, but Sunday's battle at NRG Stadium in Houston did at least reveal plenty of character. Mauricio Pochettino's side was overmatched, but fought hard enough to only lose on a goal that had to be given after VAR overturned an initial offside call.
Nevertheless, it's an outcome that will sting after the USMNT had reeled off five straight wins to get this far, restoring some belief in the program and revealing some younger players who will be in Pochettino's plans the next time that the strongest possible roster is assembled.
Here are our player ratings from a Gold Cup final defeat for the USMNT. As a reminder, here's the Pro Soccer Wire player rating scale:
GK: Matt Freese - 6.5
The goals aren't on Freese, with errors in front of him freeing the NYCFC goalkeeper from blame. On the plays he could possibly make, Freese was tidy, assuredly claiming some potentially tricky crosses and making sure all of his six saves didn't result in more danger. The USMNT clearly directed him to throw the ball out ASAP whenever Mexico had numbers forward, but the gambit never worked, and even allowed Mexico to reignite its attack in one instance. Freese might have done well to calm things down in those moments, but it's a small quibble with a solid showing.
RB: Alex Freeman - 4
The young fullback looked naive at times, stepping towards aerial balls he wasn't going to get (a recurring issue for him that will need work). He also had the biggest of the several U.S. errors on Raul Jiménez's 27th minute goal, letting what should have been an easy interception slip under his foot.
The 20-year-old may have had an unlikely equalizer in a bizarre second-half sequence that ended with his header catching Luis Malagón in the forehead. On the downside, it looked like Freeman was the player keeping Mexico onside on the dead ball that became the game-winner, though the real error came in tracking Johan Vásquez at the near post. Freeman is a serious prospect going forward, but this game is one that he has to learn from.
CB: Chris Richards - 7.5
The Crystal Palace man gave the USMNT a lead with a perfectly-timed header that just barely got over the line after bouncing down off the crossbar. Coming after a similar group-stage goal for Richards, it was more evidence that the team's emphasis on set-piece execution is working.
Beyond that, Richards was man of the match for the USMNT thanks to his box defending, repeatedly winning his battles and arriving to cut out dangerous service from Mexico. With the U.S. under intense pressure for long spells, he was very busy, and largely delivered. Could he have done better on Jiménez's goal? Possibly, but he only had to step out of his position due to errors in the midfield.
CB: Tim Ream - 7
Ream took some heat from fans for being the player nearest Jiménez on Mexico's first goal, but he was trying to clean up after a series of errors elsewhere. He'd have had to do something superhuman to change that situation.
Like Richards, Ream did well defending inside the box, coming up with some back-post headers and interventions that left no room for error. He also nearly set up a dramatic late equalizer with a long ball that sent Damion Downs in behind, but the young attacker lost track of the ball at a critical moment.
LB: Max Arfsten - 6.5
The Columbus Crew wingback had a solid game at left back, including two sharp interventions at the back post in the first half. He created a good shooting chance from 24 yards and barely missed on what would have been a golazo in the 54th minute. Despite Roberto Alvarado seeing more of the ball than any Mexico attacker, he had to play safe due to Arfsten's best showing as a defender in the tournament, creating just one key pass.
RCM: Tyler Adams - 5
On paper, Adams was good on the ball, connecting 88% of his 55 pass attempts, but those numbers are deceptive. Adams couldn't serve as the key link to allow the USMNT to build from the back and enter the middle third, as he simply wasn't able to get into pockets to be an option on a regular basis. As Mexico progressively took the game over, the Bournemouth man's lack of influence on the game stood out. These are the kinds of games Adams lives for at his best, but he looked like a player playing through knocks, covering the ground without the sort of speed and bite that has been his calling card.
Scroll back up to that clip of the Jiménez goal and ask yourself: Where is Tyler Adams? The answer is, he's chasing shadows and eventually pulled out of position, something that a confident and fully fit Adams normally doesn't let happen. That summed up his performance, which was just not the star-level showing the USMNT needed from the biggest name on this Gold Cup roster.
LCM: Luca de la Torre - 6
The San Diego FC midfielder was the most reliable connector the USMNT had during his 69 minutes on the field, with De la Torre connecting 88% of his passes and losing possession just four times. Given how much the U.S. struggled to keep the ball, that was no small thing. De la Torre also won all three of his duels.
However, the 27-year-old wasn't able to turn that tidiness into true influence, and the USMNT really needed someone to offer the kind of impact Mexico was getting out of Marcel Ruíz and Edson Álvarez. That's probably why he was taken off as the game's intensity got ramped up late, but it's reasonable to argue that Mauricio Pochettino removed the wrong starting midfielder in that moment.
RM: Sebastian Berhalter - 6
First of all, why "RM" and not RW for right wing? Mauricio Pochettino's set-up was once again a 4-2-3-1 that dropped Berhalter into a deeper pocket, supporting Adams and De la Torre while looking for early balls in behind. We're trying to reflect the asymmetry in the formation, something Berhalter allows through his versatility.
In any case, he served in a gorgeous ball to get the assist on Richards' goal, much like he's shown throughout the Gold Cup. He played well in the first half, but as the game wore on the Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder's accuracy in open play faded. He was up for the battle, covering ground and putting in three tackles, but was one of several players who became a reliable source of turnovers for Mexico in the final half-hour.
AM: Malik Tillman - 5.5
The effort was there from Tillman, even after he seemed to take a knee to his hip flexor or hamstring that hampered his mobility for a spell midway through the second half.
However, with the U.S. unable to meaningfully engage in a high press, that mostly meant chasing and protecting space, and as Mexico exerted more control that meant more issues. Tillman was dribbled past three times (more than any other player), and Pochettino's role of the dice to play him as a No. 8 from the 69th minute onward didn't give the U.S. much of anything.
In the end, Tillman lost more duels than he won, gave away four fouls (and only earned one free kick), and couldn't turn his attempts to force something to happen into a magic moment.
LW: Diego Luna - 5
As long as Luna is deployed as a quasi-wide player with no corresponding threat on the opposite flank, there will be days like this against good opponents. Luna's issue wasn't so much that he failed to do much with the ball as it was that he simply didn't get many touches. The USMNT couldn't find the Real Salt Lake man in the spaces he has done so much damage in throughout the Gold Cup, and when they did get him the ball his options were mostly to try to force it a la Tillman, or to try to build some possession. He chose the latter, which was wise, but also meant he was a muted presence throughout.
When a shifty technician like Luna creates zero combined key passes, successful dribbles, and fouls won, you know they either had a howler or were cut out of that match. It's more credit to Mexico than anything else, but Sunday for Luna was the latter.
ST: Patrick Agyemang - 6
The Derby County transfer target had to make a whole meal out of scraps, and he nearly pulled it off on a couple of occasions. Agyemang absorbed some tough challenges throughout, and (as has been the case throughout the Gold Cup) was a truly difficult physical presence to get the better of for El Tri. He managed just 22 touches in 90 minutes, but turned that into two key passes, a free kick won that became the only USMNT goal, and a booking for the otherwise excellent César Montes.
Still, it has to be said that his aerial presence faltered once, and it was critical. That's Agyemang losing Vásquez on the game-winner, and the U.S. striker never really had sight of him during the sequence. If he's touch-tight, there's every reason to think he wins that battle for the delivery, but instead Álvarez (eventually) had a goal to celebrate.
Coach: Mauricio Pochettino - 5.5
The good news? Pochettino had his charges flying to start, and the coaching staff's focus on set pieces paid off yet again with Richards' goal. However, once Mexico slowed the game down for a moment and caught up in terms of intensity, Pochettino needed to make a bigger adjustment than dropping his lines a bit and waiting for tired legs to require substitutions.
The USMNT had performance issues on the field, but also needed some tactical ingenuity that never arrived. Pochettino trusts his players to solve problems more than most, but on the day they needed some help. The decision to stick with Adams for 19 minutes after he picked up a yellow card, given his ineffective performance, was puzzling. With the game turning into an offense vs. defense drill in the final 25 minutes or so, Pochettino could have also added a third center back.
Sub: Damion Downs - 5.5
Downs came on for De la Torre in the 69th minute, playing underneath Agyemang in what became a 4-4-1-1 formation as the U.S. was trapped defending for long spells.
The 1.FC Köln attacker saw little of the ball, but also missed out on the best chance the U.S. created in pursuit of an equalizer. Ream's long ball picked out Downs' smart run perfectly, but the 21-year-old bafflingly lost track of the ball, spinning around and eventually leaving the entire episode to Agyemang (who couldn't convert in a more difficult situation).
Sub: Jack McGlynn - 6
The Houston Dynamo midfielder replaced Adams in the 82nd minute, playing the right midfield role he had been seen in during the group stage.
He was able to connect all but one of his pass attempts, but as a late gamble to put a more attack-minded USMNT on the field (the shuffle included Tillman as the experienced member of the double-pivot in central midfield), he ultimately wasn't able to help turn the tides.
Sub: Brenden Aaronson - NR
The elder Aaronson didn't come on until the 86th minute, and just never had time to impact proceedings.
Sub: John Tolkin - NR
Tolkin came on in the 86th minute for Arfsten, but never had a chance to make a mark on the game.