November 20 – Mexico overcame a two-goal deficit from the first leg to beat Honduras 4-2 on aggregate and qualify for the Nations League semi-finals and a tie against Canada at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles next March 20.
In the other semi-final the USA, who knocked out Jamaica, will meet Panama who triumphed in their quarter final over Costa Rica. The Nations League final will be played at the SoFi stadium on March 23.
Going into their home leg in Toluca, Mexico, it looked like the Hondurans were on the brink of a major upset with their 2-0 lead from the first tie.
It took until the 42nd minute for Mexico to break the Honduran defence with a goal from Fulham forward Raul Jimenez. One goal down on aggregate at half time, the momentum was shifting Mexico’s way, but it took the introduction of substitutes Henry Martin and Jorge Sanchez to turn the match.
Martin, brought into the game on 66’, scored on 72’ to level the tie on aggregate. Sanchez put Mexico 3-0 up with just five minutes of normal time remaining. Martin added his second in the eighth minute of added time to ensure there was no comeback for the Hondurans.
Mexico will now face Canada, top ranked from the quarter finals after two wins over Suriname.
The Canadian’s took a 1-0 lead from the first leg in Paramaribo into their home fixture in Toronto and were soon 2-0 ahead on aggregate through a Jonathan David goal on 23’.
Jacob Shaffelburg extended their lead for in the 30th minute, before adding his second of the night on 67’ in what became a comfortable win for the Canadians.
Statement or stupid? Pulisic celebrates double with Trump dance
The USA completed a double over Jamaica to set up a semi-final with Costa Rica.
Having edged the first leg away from home 1-0 after Jamaica missed a penalty, the second leg ended up as something of a formality in what was probably the best performance of Mauricio Pochettino’s reign so far.
Christian Pulisic opened the scoring in the 14th minute for the US before adding a second on 33’. He celebrated with the Donald Trump campaign dance that he said wasn’t a political statement but which was met with widespread disappointment within the sport in the US that is widely seen as the immigrants’ game. It will be interesting to see how that dance is received when he returns to Italy. At best it was probably a stupid mistake but ultimately overshadowed the win of a developing US team.
Ricardo Pepi scored a third before half time to put the tie beyond doubt. Timothy Weah added a fourth while Demari Gray scored twice for Jamaica.
Panama and Costa Rica drew 2-2 in the second leg of their quarterfinals series in with Panama winning 3-2 on aggregate at Estadio Rommel Fernández in Panama City, Panama.
Los Canaleros had 1-0 first-leg victory in San José, Costa Rica last Thursday.
César Blackman scored to give Panama the lead in the 14’, before Costa Rica equalised in the 24’ through a right-footed drive from long range by Alejandro Bran.
Panama reclaimed the lead just before the half in the 45+3’, with a left-footed curler from José Rodríguez. Los Ticos again pulled level, this time through Alonso on 73’.
Anthony Contreras had an opportunity to score a late winner for Costa Rica in the 90+7’, but his header inside the box was high above the crossbar.
The four semi-finalists have qualified for the 2025 Gold Cup, while the four losing quarter finals will be given another chance of Gold Cup qualification via the preliminary round.
Concacaf Nations League Finals Schedule
Thursday, March 20, 2025 – Semifinals
7:00 pm (4:00 pm) USA vs Panama
10:30 pm (7:30 pm) Canada vs Mexico
Sunday, March 23, 2025 -Third Place Match and Final
6:00 pm (3:00 pm) Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2
9:30 pm (6:30 pm) Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2
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