USMNT 5 – Panama 1, Concacaf World Cup qualifying

The USMNT will enter the final matchday of the Octagonal round of Concacaf World Cup qualifying with a three-point lead and a sizable goal difference for an automatic spot. Christian Pulisic lead the United States to a 5-1 win over Panama in Orlando on Sunday night, converting two penalties and finishing off a hat-trick. Pulisic opened the scoring from the spot in the 17th with Paul Arriola doubling the lead in the 23rd. Jesus Ferreira made it 3-0 in the 27th. Pulisic converted another penalty in first-half stoppage time, scoring again in the 65th minute. Panama’s Anibal Godoy scored in the 86th.

“I think on a night where we needed to get a resounding win, we did so,” USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter told FS1. “We helped our goal difference and the effort today was tremendous.”

World Cup qualifying concludes on Wednesday with the USA on the road at Costa Rica. The USMNT has a three-point lead and a +13 goal difference to Costa Rica’s +3. DeAndre Yedlin and Timothy Weah served their yellow card accumulation suspensions against Panama, now available against Costa Rica.

Canada qualified for the 2022 World Cup with a 4-0 home shutout of Jamaica. Cyle Larin opened the scoring in the 13th and Tajon Buchanon doubled the lead in the 44th. Junior Hoilet made it 3-0 Canada in the 82nd and an own-goal finished off the scoring in the 88th. Costa Rica won 2-1 at El Salvador. Anthony Contreras put Costa Rica up in the 30th with Cristian Hurtado equalizing for El Salvador a minute later. Joel Campbell scored Costa Rica’s winner a minute into first-half stoppage time. Mexico shutout Honduras 1-0 away on a 70th minute Edson Alvarez goal.

I mean come on, @cpulisic_10 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/Ya9rstTtJg

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) March 28, 2022

— GAME REPORT —

Match: United States Men’s National Team vs. Panama
Date: March 27, 2022
Competition: Concacaf 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying
Venue: Exploria Stadium; Orlando, Fla.
Attendance: 25,022
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET
Weather: 77 Degrees, sunny

Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 4 1 5
PAN 0 1 1
USA – Christian Pulisic (Penalty Kick) 17th minute
USA – Paul Arriola (Antonee Robinson) 23
USA – Jesús Ferreira (Paul Arriola) 27
USA – Christian Pulisic (Penalty Kick) 45+4
USA – Christian Pulisic (Antonee Robinson) 65
PAN – Aníbal Godoy (Éric Davis) 86

Lineups:
USA: 1-Zack Steffen; 2-Shaq Moore, 3-Walker Zimmerman, 12-Miles Robinson (15-Aaron Long, 65), 5-Antonee Robinson; 4-Tyler Adams (13-Jordan Morris, 71), 6-Yunus Musah (23-Kellyn Acosta, 46), 14-Luca de la Torre; 7-Paul Arriola (11-Gio Reyna, 46), 20-Jesús Ferreira, 10-Christian Pulisic (Capt.) (21-Gianluca Busio, 71)
Substitutes Not Used: 18-Ethan Horvath, 8-Cristian Roldan, 9-Ricardo Pepi, 16-George Bello, 17-Jordan Pefok, 19-James Sands, 22-Erik Palmer-Brown
Head coach: Gregg Berhalter

PAN: 1-Luis Mejía; 23-Michael Murillo, 4-Fidel Escobar, 16-Andres Andrade, 15-Éric Davis; 8-Adalberto Carrasquilla (6-Cristian Martinez, 64), 20-Aníbal Godoy (Capt.), 10-Edgar Bárcenas (11-Victor Medina, 46), 19-Alberto Quintero, 13-Freddy Góndola (7-Jose Luis Rodriguez, 46), 14-Rolando Blackburn (9-Gabriel Torres, 46)
Substitutes Not Used: 12-Cesar Samudio, 22-Orlando Mosquera, 2-Cesar Blackman, 3-Harold Cummings, 5-Jose Cordoba, 17-Ismael Diaz, 18-Cecilio Waterman, 21-Cesar Yanis
Head coach: Thomas Christiansen

Stats Summary: USA / PAN
Shots: 15 / 10
Shots on Goal: 5 / 2
Saves: 1 / 0
Corner Kicks: 3 / 2
Fouls: 23 / 15
Offside: 0 / 3

Misconduct Summary:
PAN – Aníbal Godoy (Caution) 45+3rd minute
PAN – Rolando Blackburn (Caution) 45+3
PAN – Éric Davis (Caution) 57
USA – Christian Pulisic (Caution) 69
USA – Aaron Long (Caution) 85

Officials:
Referee: Iván Barton (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: David Moran (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Zachari Zeegelaar (SUR)
4th Official: Jaime Herrera (SLV)
VAR: Marco Ortiz (MEX)
Assistant VAR: Ismael Cornejo (SLV)

Photo by John Todd – ISIPhotos.com