Canadian men defeat U.S. 2-1 to finish third in CONCACAF Nations League

Mexico's Raul Jimenez, right, vies for the ball against Canada's Derek Cornelius during the second half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent) (Etienne Laurent/AP)

INGLEWOOD — Tani Oluwaseyi and Jonathan David scored as Canada defeated the U.S. 2-1 on Sunday to finish third in the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada coach Jesse Marsch, who has been upset with the officiating at the tournament, was shown a red card in the 54th minute by Mexican referee Katia Garcia for protesting a lack of a penalty call when David hit the turf in the U.S. penalty box.

Replays seemed to show David lost his footing as he attempted a quick turn to evade defender Max Arfsten. David had also gone down minutes earlier in the U.S. box under pressure from Tyler Adams with Garcia waving to play on.

The red card means Marsch, who watched the rest of the game from a box at SoFi Stadium, will be suspended for the first game of the CONCACAF Gold Cup later this year.

Canada was the more dangerous team on the day, holding on in the final minutes as the desperate Americans pressed for an equalizer. Goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair and centre backs Moise Bombito and Derek Cornelius made important late stops.

David scored the winner in the 59th minute with an exquisite strike after Ali Ahmed found him in the penalty box. The Lille forward pivoted like a matador to get away from a defender and curled the ball past a diving Matt Turner for his record 32nd goal for Canada.

Patrick Agyemang scored for the U.S., which lost 2-1 to Canada the last time they met in a September friendly in Kansas City — the Canadians' first victory over the Americans on U.S. soil since July 1957 (a 3-2 World Cup qualifying win in St. Louis).

It marks the first time Canada has beaten the U.S. in consecutive matches since it won 2-1 in a World Cup qualifying/CONCACAF Championship game in November 1980 and 2-0 in an April 1985 friendly, both in Vancouver.

Mexico faced Panama in the final later Sunday at SoFi Stadium.

Canada placed fifth (2019-20), second (2022-23) and fifth (2023-24) in the three previous editions of the Nations League.

Canada, ranked No. 31 in the world, lost 2-0 to No. 19 Mexico in semifinal play Thursday, while the 16th-ranked U.S., conceding a 94th-minute goal, were beaten 1-0 by No. 36 Panama, ending their bid for a fourth straight title.

Canada lost captain Alphonso Davies in the 12th minute Sunday after the Bayern Munich star went down twice and needed medical attention for a knee issue. He was replaced by Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old who won this third Canada cap, with Alistair Johnston — who took over as captain — switching to the left side.

Johnston, favouring his right knee, needed treatment in the 68th minute after acrobatically blocking a pair of U.S. shots.

There was little flow to the game early on but Canada began to put the Americans under pressure.

The Canadians came close in the 22nd minute off a long Johnston throw-in. Ismael Kone’s shot bounced off bodies and Turner was able to get the ball away before Cornelius could get to it.

Five minutes later, Oluwaseyi opened the scoring after Ahmed sent the ball into the U.S. penalty box. David’s attempted shot squibbed off a player and it fell kindly to Oluwaseyi who knocked it in from close range for his first goal in 11 appearances for Canada. The goal survived a VAR check for offside.

Agyemang replied for the U.S. in the 35th minute after a slashing run by Tim Weah opened up the Canada defence. Weah slipped the ball to Diego Luna who found the Charlotte FC forward between defenders in the penalty box. A sprawling St. Clair got a piece of the ball but could not keep it out.

It was Agyemang’s third goal in four U.S. appearances.

Canada outshot the U.S. 4-1 (1-1 in shots on target) in the first half.

Before Sunday’s game, Marsch downplayed the backdrop of the political tension between the two North American rivals.

But he showed his players the tape of the fight-filled start to the Canada-U. S. hockey game ahead of Sunday’s match.

The Canadian men improved to 12-17-13 all-time against the U.S. — and 4-3-2 since 2019. Canada is 3-14-11 against the Americans on U.S. soil.

Marsch made three changes to his starting lineup with Mathieu Choiniere, Tajon Buchanan and Oluwaseyi coming in for Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio and Cyle Larin.

U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino had promised changes in a bid to improve team chemistry and he opted for five new starters in Agyemang, Luna, Max Arfsten, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Mark McKenzie.

Canada improved to 6-4-5 record under Marsch, with one of those ties turning into a penalty shootout loss to No. 11 Uruguay and another to a shootout win over No. 47 Venezuela at Copa America.

This year’s Nations League is worth $2 million (all figures in U.S. dollars) to the winner with the runner-up collecting $1 million. Third place is worth $600,000 with $200,000 going to the fourth-place side.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2025.