After surviving a scare in the quarterfinals, the United States men gear up for a game against Guatemala in the Gold Cup semifinals on Wednesday from St. Louis.
The USMNT played to a 2-2 draw against Costa Rica on Sunday before goalkeeper Matt Freese put the team on his back in the ensuing penalty shootout, making an impressive three saves and guessing correctly on all but one effort.
Still, the match was far from perfect from a U.S. perspective, as they gifted Costa Rica both goals via ugly individual defensive errors.
The USMNT will be wary of another upset bid in this match after Guatemala dumped Canada out of the competition with a penalty shootout triumph of their own. Ranked 106th in the world, Los Chapines have not played the USMNT since World Cup qualifying in 2016, when they won at home, but none of their five all-time wins against the United States have come on U.S. soil.
MORE: Every CONCACAF Gold Cup champion since the tournament’s beginning
USA vs. Guatemala starting lineups, team news
Mauricio Pochettino kept confidence in goalkeeper Matt Freese after his glaring error against Haiti, and his penalty shootout heroics rewarded that faith. It’s hard to imagine too many changes to the lineup the rest of the way, although the boss could consider a switch at left-back as Max Arfsten has been defensively porous. John Tolkin could get a chance.
Johnny Cardoso picked up an ankle injury and missed the quarterfinal match, while Haji Wright‘s Gold Cup is over due to an Achilles injury.
The U.S. are without injured regulars Sergino Dest, Antonee Robinson, Ricardo Pepi, and Folarin Balogun for this tournament, while Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, and Gio Reyna are unavailable as they are participating in the Club World Cup. Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah requested to have the summer off and are not with the side.
Yellow card accumulation is wiped in the semifinals, meaning players can only be banned from the final if they are sent off in this game.
USA predicted starting XI (4-3-3, right to left): Freese (GK) — Freeman, Richards, Ream, Arfsten — Berhalter, Adams, de la Torre — Tillman, Agyemang, Luna.
Injured: Cardoso (ankle), Wright (Achilles), Pepi (knee), Steffen (knee), Dest (fitness/knee), A. Robinson (knee), Balogun (ankle).
Suspended: None.
Full USA squad
Goalkeepers: Chris Brady, Matt Freese, Matt Turner.
Defenders: Max Arfsten, Alex Freeman, Nathan Harriel, Mark McKenzie, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Miles Robinson, John Tolkin, Walker Zimmerman.
Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson, Paxten Aaronson, Tyler Adams, Sebastian Berhalter, Johnny Cardoso, Luca de la Torre, Diego Luna, Jack McGlynn, Quinn Sullivan, Malik Tillman.
Forwards: Patrick Agyemang, Damion Downs, Brian White, Haji Wright.
MORE: Full schedule, results, highlights, recaps for all USMNT games in 2025
The Guatemala attack is led by former USA international Rubio Rubin who switched to represent Guatemala in 2022 after none of his seven USMNT senior appearances cap-tied him to his country of birth.
They have two players who feature prominently at MLS clubs. Goalkeeper Nicolas Hagen backs up American starter Patrick Schulte at the Columbus Crew while right-back Aaron Herrera plays for D.C. United.
Head coach Luis Fernando Tena decided not to call in veterans Alejandro Galindo or Carlos Mejia, both of whom have over 50 international caps but are now 33 years old.
Guatemala starting XI (5-3-2, right to left): Navarro (GK) — Herrera, Pinto, Samayoa, Morales — Robles, Rosales, Munoz — Escobar, Rubin, Santis.
Injured: None.
Suspended: None.
Full Guatemala squad
Goalkeepers: Alexandre Lezcano, Keylor Navas, Patrick Sequeira.
Defenders: Francisco Calvo, Fernan Faerron, Alexis Gamboa, Ariel Lassiter, Jeyland Mitchell, Joseph Mora, Kenay Myrie, Santiago van der Putten, Juan Pablo Vargas, Guillermo Villalobos.
Midfielders: Brandon Aguilera, Alejandro Bran, Jefferson Brenes, Orlando Galo, Carlos Mora, Cristopher Nunez.
Forwards: Josimar Alcocer, Warren Madrigal, Alonso Martinez, Andy Rojas, Manfred Ugalde, Kenneth Vargas, Alvaro Zamora.
USA vs. Guatemala score prediction
Guatemala took advantage of Canada’s lack of discipline, capitalizing on their man advantage through the entire second half, but in truth they were second-best until Jacob Shaffelburg’s red card.
As long as the United States can cut back on individual errors and take a few of their chances, they should manage to advance to the final.
Prediction: USA 2-1 Guatemala
How to watch USA vs. Guatemala: Live stream, TV channel
- English:
- TV channel: FS1
- Streaming: Fubo
- Spanish:
- TV channel: TUDN, Univision
- Streaming: Fubo, ViX
The entirety of the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup will be broadcast by Fox Sports, with this USMNT knockout stage match given network priority.
While some Gold Cup matches are televised on FOX, this game will be available to watch in the United States on FS1. All games across the Fox family of channels will be available to stream on Fubo, which is offering a free trial for new users.
In Canada, this match will be televised on OneSoccer as well as TSN1 and TSN4, all of which can be found streaming on Fubo Canada.
