MINNEAPOLIS (June 29, 2025) – The U.S. Men’s National Team completed the comeback after trailing early and outlasted Costa Rica in an epic penalty kick shootout in the final quarterfinal match of this year’s Concacaf Gold Cup.
With the match tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, the winner was determined by penalty kicks. Goalkeeper Matt Freese saved three kicks for the United States, including one from Costa Rica’s Francisco Calvo, who converted a penalty in regulation, to lead the United States to victory. Damion Downs converted the last kick to send the U.S. through to the Gold Cup semifinals for the 17th time in the 18 editions of the tournament.
The USMNT advances to the semifinal where it will face Guatemala on Wednesday, July 2 at Energizer Park in St. Louis.
The United States entered Sunday’s match at U.S. Bank Stadium as winners of Group D, going undefeated in the group stage with three wins over Trinidad and Tobago, Saudi Arabia and Haiti. In those three matches, the United States only conceded once.
On the other side, Costa Rica advanced to the quarterfinals as the second-place team from Group A, also undefeated. Los Ticos earned wins over Suriname and Dominican Republic, then played head coach Miguel Herrera’s home country of Mexico to a scoreless draw. Mexico finished as the group-winner based on goal differential.
Head coach Mauricio Pochettino made three changes to the starting XI that faced Haiti last weekend, inserting Max Arfsten, Sebastian Berhalter and Diego Luna. Seven starters were 25 years of age or younger, though everyone had seen Gold Cup action prior to Sunday’s match.
The opening goal arrived for Costa Rica in the 12th minute after Arfsten was called for a foul inside the box. Defending his first penalty kick for the United States in his fourth straight start, Freese guessed correctly, diving to his left and getting a hand on the ball, but Calvo’s hit had enough power to push past Freese and into the back of the net to give Costa Rica an early 1-0 lead.
Despite falling behind for the first time in this year’s tournament, the United States looked determined and created several exciting moments. In the 19th minute, the USMNT’s leading scorer this tournament, Malik Tillman, made some space outside the box using his dribble. Tillman cut back then sent the ball wide to Luca de la Torre on the flank. De la Torre’s accurate cross set up an acrobatic volley for Luna, but the shot sailed high.
In the 31st minute, Costa Rica defender Juan Vargas took down Tillman with a dangerous foul near the endline. After VAR review, the official awarded a penalty kick to the United States. Tillman took the kick for the U.S., going up against Keylor Navas in goal for Costa Rica. Navas dove to his left, the opposite way of Tillman’s low-driven shot, but the strike clanged off the lower left post. Reacting quickly, Arfsten chased down the rebound while the ball was still in play, cut back and fired a shot with his right foot, but Navas showed why he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world and jumped off the ground from the penalty attempt to get a hand on Arfsten’s shot.
With pressure building in the closing moments of the first half, the United States pushed to find an equalizer before the break. And the relentless pursuit paid off with a goal from Luna. The midfielder corralled Arfsten’s cross with a controlled first touch and set up his left-footed shot beautifully. His strike took a deflection on its way toward goal, enough to catch Navas off guard and the deflected shot spun into the back of the net to bring the score to 1-1 in the 43rd minute.
Ninety seconds into the second half, the USMNT scored a terrific goal to go ahead. Patrick Agyemang and Tillman were involved in the play, and Tillman swung the ball wide to an open Arfsten who was pushing high up the left side of the pitch. Arfsten closed in on the pass from Tillman and tucked it away with his right foot for his first international goal.
The United States nearly scored again moments later. In a play that looked reminiscent of the USA’s lone goal against Saudi Arabia, Sebastian Berhalter delivered excellent service into the box on a direct free kick. Defender Chris Richards’ header was on frame, but Navas made the save to keep his team within striking distance. The pair of Berhalter and Richards nearly connected again on another good look in the 67th minute.
With about 20 minutes to play in regulation, Costa Rica equalized. Carlos Mora cut through two defenders and took a shot on goal. Freese made the initial save at the near post, but the rebound fell right back to Mora. He slipped a short pass to Alonso Martínez who delivered from close range to tie the match at 2-2 in the 71st minute.
Both teams saw near misses in the final moments of regulation. For Costa Rica, it was a right-footed strike from Martínez that clanged off the post. Tillman, who got close several times throughout the match, just missed for the U.S. with a terrific strike that travelled high.
The match was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation and proceeded straight to a penalty kick shootout. Martínez opened with a controlled finish right down the middle. Tyler Adams answered for the USA. Freese saved the second attempt from Costa Rica’s Juan Pablo Vargas, setting the tone that he was not to be underestimated.
With the kicks all tied up going into the fifth round, Freese came up huge twice more. He read Calvo and didn’t flinch from his spot in the middle, staying in position to punch the shot away. On Costa Rica’s next attempt, he sprawled out to his right to deny Andy Rojas, making his third save of the shootout.
That left the match at the feet of Downs, and the forward delivered to send the United States to the Gold Cup Semifinals.
Goal Scoring Rundown:
CRC – FRANCISCO CALVO, 12th minute: Costa Rica was awarded a penalty kick after the U.S. was called for a foul inside the box. After taking a brief pause, Calvo struck the ball low with his right foot. The strike was hit firmly enough to push past Freese’s diving hand, and the ball rolled into the back of the net in the lower right corner. USA 0, CRC 1
USA – DIEGO LUNA (MAX ARFSTEN), 43rd minute: Arfsten crossed the ball to Luna near the top of the box. The midfielder controlled the pass with a deft touch. Luna’s left-footed strike took a deflection and spun into the back of the net. USA 1, CRC 1
USA – MAX ARFSTEN (MALIK TILLMAN), 47th minute: On the attack, Agyemang dumped the ball to Tillman, who swung the ball wide to Arfsten. With space, Arfsten drove a low ball into the far side netting from the left side of the box. USA 2, CRC 1
CRC – ALONSO MARTÍNEZ (CARLOS MORA), 71st minute: Mora controlled his own rebound after his initial shot was saved by Freese and fed the ball to Alonso around the six-yard box. The striker slammed it into the upper left corner of the net to even the match. USA 2, CRC 2 FINAL.
Additional Notes:
The opening goal for the United States was the first career international goal for Diego Luna. The 21-year-old now has five goal contributions (one goal, four assists) in nine appearances this year.
Max Arfsten finished the match with two goal contributions. He scored his first international goal in the 47th minute and recorded his third career assist on Luna’s goal.
Malik Tillman recorded his second career assist on Arfsten’s goal. Tillman now has four goal contributions in his last four matches.
Tim Ream captained the United States for the 19th time.
The starting XI averaged 21 caps and 11 in official competition. The lineup had an average age of 25 years, 235 days.
The USMNT has advanced to the Gold Cup semifinals 17 times in 18 overall editions.
The USMNT moves to 20W-17L-7D all-time against Costa Rica and is 8W-0L-1D against Los Ticos in the Concacaf Gold Cup.
The USMNT is 6W-5L in 11 all-time penalty kick shootouts.
- U.S. MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT -
Match: United States Men’s National Team vs. Costa Rica
Date: June 29, 2025
Competition: 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup; Quarterfinal
Venue: U.S. Bank Stadium; Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 32,289
Kickoff: 6:00 p.m. CT (7:00 p.m. ET)
Weather: Indoors
| Scoring Summary |
1 |
2 |
F |
PK |
| USA |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
| CRC |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| CRC – Francisco Calvo | 12th minute |
| USA – Diego Luna (Max Arfsten) | 47 |
| CRC – Alonso Martinez (Carlos Mora) | 71 |
CRC - Alonso Martínez (goal), Juan Pablo Vargas (saved), Santiago van der Putten (goal), Jefferson Brenes (goal), Francisco Calvo (saved), Andy Rojas (saved)
USA – Tyler Adams (goal), Malik Tillman (goal), Sebastian Berhalter (missed), Alex Freeman (goal), John Tolkin (saved), Damion Downs (goal)
Lineups:
USA: 25-Matt Freese; 16-Alex Freeman, 3-Chris Richards, 13-Tim Ream (Capt.), 18-Max Arfsten (2-John Tolkin, 84); 4-Tyler Adams, 14-Luca de la Torre (9-Damion Downs, 78); 8-Sebastian Berhalter, 17-Malik Tillman, 10-Diego Luna (6-Jack McGlynn, 83); 24-Patrick Agyemang (23-Brian White, 90)
Substitutes not used: 1-Matt Turner, 5-Walker Zimmerman, 7-Quinn Sullivan, 11-Brenden Aaronson, 12-Miles Robinson, 20-Nathan Harriel, 21-Paxten Aaronson, 22-Mark McKenzie
Not Dressed: 26-Chris Brady, 15-Johnny Cardoso, 19-Haji Wright
Head coach: Mauricio Pochettino
CRC: 1-Keylor Navas (Capt.); 15-Francisco Calvo, 4-Juan Vargas (13-Jefferson Brenes, 58), 6-Alexis Gamboa; 16-Alejandro Bran (15-Cristopher Nuñez, 74), 22-Carlos Mora (26-Kenay Myrie, 88); 20-Josimar Alcócer (2-Santiago Van Der Putten, 88), 14-Orlando Galo, 10-Brandon Aguilera (7-Andy Rojas, 58); 19-Kenneth Vargas, 12-Alonso Martínez
Substitutes not used : 18-Alexandre Lezcano, 23-Patrick Sequeira, 5-Fernán Faerron, 21-Alvaro Zamora, 24-Guillermo Villalobos
Head coach: Miguel Herrera
Stats Summary: USA / CRC
Shots: 18 / 3
Shots on Goal: 4 / 3
Saves: 1 / 2
Corner Kicks: 9 / 2
Fouls: 14 / 14
Offside: 1 / 1
| CRC – Juan Vargas (Caution) | 35th minute |
| USA – Chris Richards (Caution) | 38 |
| CRC – Kenneth Vargas (Caution) | 38 |
| CRC – Josimar Alcócer (Caution) | 68 |
Officials:
Referee: Walter Lopez (GUA)
Assistant 1: Keytzel Corrales (NCA)
Assistant 2: Raymundo Feliz (DOM)
Fourth Official: Kwinsi Williams (TRI)
Man of the Match: Matt Freese
