Serie A stars stunned as Panama beat USA to Nations League final | OneFootball

Serie A stars Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah were left stunned as underdogs Panama beat the USMNT in injury, away from home, to qualify for the CONCACAF Nations League final on Thursday night.

Serie A stars suffer surprise defeat against Panama

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 20: Adalberto Carrasquilla #8 of Panama and Josh Sargent #9 of the United States battle for the ball during the second half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal match at SoFi Stadium on March 20, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)

All four of the Serie A representatives in Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT squad were in the starting line-up as the 2026 World Cup hosts fell to a surprise defeat at the hands of Panama. 33-year-old Coquimbo Unido forward Cecilio Waterman scored the game’s only goal in the 94th minute of play.

The result means that the USMNT will have to settle for a place in the third-place play-off against Canada at the SoFi Stadium in California on Sunday, rather than a final against Mexico in the same stadium on Monday.

The 1-0 defeat by Panama was USA’s first loss under head coach Pochettino, and their first defeat since a 2-1 loss against Canada under interim head coach Mikey Varas.