Young sensation! The United States team beat the Mexican team led by Rafa Márquez 3-0. The “USMNT” took advantage of two errors by goalkeeper Raúl Rangel and one by defender Diego Campillo, to humiliate the Mexican “Tricolor”, in a friendly match of the FIFA Date played in Glendale (Arizona).
At State Farm Stadium, center forward Julian Hall (18 years old), attacking midfielder Cavan Sullivan (17 years old) and midfielder Malik Tillman converted for coach Mauricio Pochettino’s squad, which reached three victories in three appearances after the 2026 World Cup, after defeating the Peru and Chile teams.
This time, Mexico started better in this Concacaf classic; He had possession of the ball and in the 4th minute he was close to taking the lead, but the attacking center Santiago Giménez missed the target in his shot attempt.
The United States stood up well; He stopped the advances of the Mexicans and reacted in the 28th minute, taking the lead, when Hall scored 1-0 by connecting with a poorly bounced ball by goalkeeper Rangel, after a low cross shot by the American Gio Reyna.
At 18, Julian Hall became the third American player to score in his first three games with the national team, along with Alex Rae and Eddie Johnson.
After this blow, the Aztec “Tri” returned to the fray and Giménez once again had the chance to score in the 44th minute, but he shot wide.
The Americans started better in the second half, Mexico adjusted and, after 10 minutes, tied a little in this classic Concacaf match played in the Arizona desert.
In the 58th minute, Roberto “Piojo” Alvarado created danger with a shot from inside the area that was nimbly cleared by the “Team USA” goalkeeper, 20-year-old Diego Kochen (born in Miami to a Venezuelan father and a Peruvian mother).
Then came the debacle for the Mexican squad. Goalkeeper Raúl Rangel confirmed in the 63rd minute that he was having one of the worst nights of his career. When his team had improved somewhat, the Chivas goalkeeper gave a ball to the youthful midfielder Cavan Sullivan, who with the field free, from outside the area, subtly played with his left foot to send the ball to the piolas, establishing the 2-0.
Thus Sullivan, a player for the Philadelphia Union of the MLS, has become, at 17 years and 5 days old, the youngest scorer in the history of the United States national team.
Sullivan, after Rangel’s disqualifying “gift”, broke the record set a few days before by Mathis Albert, who scored against Chile at 17 years and 131 days old.
Three minutes later, Mexican winger Mateo Chávez was sent off for violent play (he irresponsibly slapped Sebastian Berhalter twice) and Mexico was left with one less man on the field, which the Americans took advantage of to play at will and look for more goals.
In the 85th minute, in another gross error by the “Tri” defense, defender Diego Campillo “innocently” let the ball pass in front of his eyes and was overtaken by the power of Tillman, who quickly made it 3-0, consummating the humiliation of Mexico, which showed one of its poorest performances in a long time.
The series of friendly matches of the FIFA Date continues this Tuesday, October 6. The struggling Mexico will face Chile at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in California (10:30 pm ET), and the United States machine will compete against Canada at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minnesota (8 pm ET).
This is how they aligned
– United States (3): Diego Kochen; Antonee Robinson, Auston Trusty, Chris Richards, Alex Freeman; Gio Reina (Broolyn Raines m.82), Tyler Adams, Sebastian Berhalter (Peyton Miller m.82), Cavan Sullivan (Yunus Musah m.65); Malik Tillman, Julian Hall (Justin Ellis m.65).
– Selector: Mauricio Pochettino.
– Mexico: Raúl Rangel; Johan Vásquez, Diego Campillo, Jesús Gallardo (Mateo Chávez m.46), Israel Reyes; Luis Romo (Luis Chávez m.46), Erik Lira (Obed Vargas m.82), Santiago Sandoval (Álvaro Fidalgo m.66), Orbelín Pineda (Isaías Violante (m.66), Roberto Alvarado (Everardo López m.82); Santiago Giménez (Armando González m.73).
– Selector: Rafael Marquez.
– Goals: 1-0, m.28: Julian Hall; 2-0, m.63: Cavan Sullivan; 3-0, m.85: Malik Tillman.
– Referee: Selvin Brown, from Honduras. Booked Tyler Adams, Sebastian Berhalter; and Luis Romo. He expelled Mateo Chávez.
– Incidents: Friendly match between the United States and Mexico teams, held at State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona.
THREE TO ZERO IN THE DESERT! 🇺🇸 https://t.co/CI3plLNTrD
— US Soccer Men’s National Team (@USMNT) October 4, 2026
