The 2022/2023 Concacaf Nations League is coming to an end this week, with the two semifinal matches taking place on June 15th, and the final and the third place match taking place three days later on June 18th. The four nations that will be taking place in the Final Four will be the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Panama. The United States will be looking to repeat as Nations League Champions, while the other three nations will be looking to pick up their first trophy in the tournament.
The Nations League Matchups
As said previously, the four teams that will be taking place in the two semifinal matches on June 15th are the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Panama. The four nations got here by winning their respective groups with Mexico winning Group A, Panama winning Group B, Canada winning Group C, and the United States winning Group D. Regarding the matchups, the United States will be taking on Mexico, and Canada will be taking on Panama.
Canada vs Panama
The first matchup of the night will be Canada against Panama. This matchup will be taking place at 7:00 PM EST at the Allegiant Stadium, which is the home of the Las Vegas Raiders. The last time that these two nations met up, Panama defeated Canada by a score of 1-0 in World Cup Qualifying. Canada was victorious in their matchup prior to that, defeating Panama by a score of 4-1.
This will be the first time that these two nations will meet in the Concacaf Nations League, and it will be a matchup that all USMNT supporters have their eye on, with hopes that they will be going against one of them in the Final on Sunday.
USA vs Mexico
The second matchup of the semifinals will be the United States against Mexico, and this is a matchup that everyone will be watching. Both of these nations are known for their chippy matchups, and that is going to be expected again in this semifinal. The last competitive matchup that these nations have gone against each other was in World Cup Qualifying, where they battled to a 0-0 draw.
Now, these two sides have faced off against each other in the Nations League, with their most notable matchup being the first-ever Nations League Final. The USMNT defeated Mexico by a score of 3-2, with Christian Pulisic scoring a 114th-minute penalty to win it for the USA. The USMNT will look to continue their recent success against Mexico, as they look to advance to the Nations League finals and be able to repeat as Champions.
USMNT Roster
Due to former interim manager Anthony Hudson departing for Al-Markhiya SC in the Middle East, the USMNT announced a new interim manager in B.J. Callaghan. Therefore, Callaghan was the one who selected the roster for the Nations League Final Four. His 23-man roster went as follows:
Goalkeepers (3): Matt Turner, Drake Callender, Sean Johnson
Defenders (7): Sergino Dest, Walker Zimmerman, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Miles Robinson, Joe Scally, Auston Trusty
Midfielders (6): Yunus Musah, Gio Reyna, Weston McKennie, Luca de la Torre, Johnny Cardoso, Alan Sonora
Forwards (7): Ricardo Pepi, Christian Pulisic, Brenden Aaronson, Alex Zendejas, Folarin Balogun, Tim Weah, Taylor Booth
One name that will stick out to USMNT supporters in this roster would be the addition of Folarin Balogun. Balogun recently made the switch over to the USMNT, and the USMNT will hope he can fill the number 9 position that the club has looked to fill in for a while now. A noticeable name that was absent from the roster was Tyler Adams, due to his hamstring injury that he suffered earlier in the year with Leeds.
All in all, it will be an exciting end of the week and weekend, as the Concacaf Nations League comes to an end. Will the USMNT repeat as Champions, or will there be a new Nations League winner? We will find out by the end of the weekend!
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Mandatory Credit: Andrew Bershaw/Icon Sportswire & Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire
