Patrick Agyemang's late goal was enough to see the United States past Haiti in the final match of their Concacaf Gold Cup group stage, setting up a quarterfinal match against either Mexico or Costa Rica.
The XI
Head coach Mauricio Pochettino made four changes to the lineup after Thursday's win over Saudi Arabia. Tyler Adams, John Tolkin, Brenden Aaronson and Quinn Sullivan all slotted into the lineup, while striker Damion Downs didn't suit up for the match.
USMNT 🇺🇸 Starting XI vs Haiti 🇭🇹 Freese; Tolkin, Ream ©, Richards, Freeman; de la Torre, Adams, Tillman; B.Aaronson, Agyemang, Sullivan BENCH: Turner, Zimmerman, McGlynn, Berhalter, Luna, Robinson, Johnny, Arfsten, Harriel, P.Aaronson, McKenzie, White
— SixOneFive Soccer (@sixonefivesoccer.com) 2025-06-22T21:58:48.948Z
On the pitch
Malik Tillman continued his excellent form, putting the USMNT ahead after just 10 minutes. The PSV attacker nodded home an excellent cross from Brenden Aaronson, putting the ball back across the goal and into the side netting.
GOOOAAL USA! 🇺🇸
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 22, 2025
Malik Tillman scores his third @USMNT goal of the tournament! pic.twitter.com/jwnowRRPdt
Unfortunately for the US, they couldn't hold onto the lead, shooting themselves in the foot in the 19th minute. A seemingly-routine back pass from Tim Ream caught goalkeeper Matt Freese wrong-footed, and the New York City FC catastrophically passed the ball straight to Don Deedson Louicius for the simplest of finishes.
In the second half, Tillman saw a pair of goals ruled off, one for offside and one for a very questionable handball offense after a Haitian defender cleared the ball off him and in. He later came millimeters away from scoring a golazo, bringing down a long diagonal acrobatically before his chipped effort whistled past the post.
After a frustrating individual evening, Patrick Agyemang showed up when it counted. John Tolkin clipped a beautiful ball over the top for the Charlotte FC striker to round Johny Placibe and finish smartly into an open net.
USA scores!! 👏👏
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 23, 2025
Patrick Agyemang puts the @USMNT back on top! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/T1ZV3EBhdV
Goals
- 10' | USA | Malik Tillman
- 19' | HAI | Don Deedson Louicius
- 75' | USA | Patrick Agyemang
The big picture
As much of this Gold Cup group stage has been, it wasn't a pretty performance from the USMNT, but they did enough to get the job done. They made life harder for themselves than it should have been, but they were able to keep the pressure on Haiti for most of the match and create enough chances to win the match more comfortably than the final score.
Malik Tillman continued his strong tournament, and while Patrick Agyemang hasn't had the cleanest three matches, he's been a handful for the defenders all tournament. Again, it wasn't pretty, but it was enough.
Up next
With their finish on top of Group D, the USMNT will take on the runner up from Group A, either Mexico or Costa Rica, depending on the result of their match on Sunday night.
That match will take place on either June 28 or 29 in Glendale, AZ or Minneapolis, MN.
Stats
Possession: USA 66% – 34% HAI
Passes completed: USA 542 – 242 HAI
Shots: USA 18 – 8 HAI
Shots on goal: USA 6 – 3 HAI
Penalty kicks: USA 0 – 0 HAI
Goals: USA 2 – 1 HAI
Expected goals: USA 2.60 – 0.48 HAI
Fouls: USA 8 – 11 HAI
Yellow cards: USA 1 – 0 HAI
Red cards: USA 0 – 0 HAI
Announced attendance:
