Cavan Sullivan’s long-range chip highlights USMNT’s 3-0 romp over Mexico

The last time the United States and Mexico played at this building, Jimmy Conrad and Landon Donovan provided the goals in one of several 2-0 wins for the US. On Saturday, the US squad included eight players who hadn’t yet been born when that happened.

The young United States went one better from their forebears, though, silencing a sizable pro-Mexico contingent in a composed 3-0 triumph that fully announced the arrival of an exciting new generation of players. Cavan Sullivan, just a few days after turning 17, became the youngest goal scorer in the history of the program with an eye-catching long-range chip. Julian Hall, 18, scored his third goal in as many games. Malik Tillman capped the scoring in the 85th minute, humbling a ten-man Mexico after they’d opened the match with far more strength. The US haven’t played an away game since 2024, but today might be as close as they’ve gotten with the heavily pro-Mexico crowd. The tailgates cooked up far more fajitas than frankfurters, and the red seats of State Farm Stadium were filled by a hearty influx of green jerseys as the anthems commenced for Tyler Adams’ first shift as Mauricio Pochettino’s captain.

The disparity of support was a fitting embodiment of the match’s early balance. Mexico came out of the gates with intent, while the nominal hosts struggled to get the ball off of their feet. Despite fielding a backline that could credibly be considered the first-choice options to start the cycle, all four US defenders struggled to pass through Mexico’s aggressive man-marking scheme.

After five minutes of Mexico maintaining a steady attack, the United States adjusted. Leaning into Kochen’s experience playing out from the back, the hosts opted for short restarts with Auston Trusty prodding goal kicks to his young goalkeeper. The conservative approach took the sting out of El Tri’s attack, but hardly helped activate their own. After 15 minutes, Mexico had managed to take 38 touches in the opposing half, to the United States’ five.

By the 28th minute, as the hosts worked to keep Mexico off the ball, the crowd at State Farm Stadium had been lulled into quiet observation.

Sebastian Berhalter lobbed a ball to the right flank to Alex Freeman, who drew Mexico’s focus as he headed toward the corner. He feigned a retreat before deftly rolling a through-ball between two opponents, with Gio Reyna collecting the ball in-stride inside the box. Reyna tried to center the ball in search of a target, leaving Raúl Rangel to flub his attempt to claim the low cross, shanking the ball directly to a lurking Hall. The New York striker made no mistake with his connection, slotting his first-time attempt across goal and far from Rangel.

The 18-year-old turned to the crowd and cupped his ears in front of the American Outlaws, cheekily acknowledging the silenced sect of Mexican support. The act of poaching gave Hall his third US goal in as many caps to bolster his case for regular involvement throughout the cycle.

Mexico strove to regain control of the match, frequently fouling Malik Tillman whenever he tried advancing upfield. Playing without the dynamic midfield duo of Gilberto Mora and Hirving Lozano, Mexico struggled to turn ample possession into genuine quality, with just four shots taken after 40 minutes and none landing on frame. The sea of green shirts began to ripple, with waves of Mexico fans beating the lines for concessions and restrooms with five minutes left in the half.

Their impatience kept them from witnessing Mexico’s best chance of the half from a moment of reverse deja vú. A speculative effort by Luís Romo to the far post forced Kochen into a clumsy diving save. Much like the sequence leading to Hall’s opener, his spill fell right to Santiago Giménez, giving Mexico a golden chance to equalize from inside six yards. Instead, the Porto loanee shanked his effort well wide of goal, sparing US blushes just before half-time.

The hosts weren’t shy once play resumed, spraying the ball to Sullivan down the right flank and up the channel to Tillman or Reyna. The visitors finally put a shot on goal in the 58th minute, with Roberto Alvarado attempting a half-volley on a redirected corner kick. Kochen parried it over the bar with youthful ease, keeping his side in control with half an hour remaining. Both teams saw their intensity wane a bit as the half progressed, leading to some carelessness in possession. Just after the hour mark, Rangel collected a back pass from Érik Lira and took his time finding his next target for distribution while positioned far upfield. His undercooked pass to Diego Campillo instead found Sullivan, the leader of the US’ makeshift press and as instinctive a player as anybody in the United States pool. Players with rare spatial awareness like Sullivan’s tend to manifest moments like these more often than most. Rather than look to retain possession, as his team had so often after turnovers, Sullivan snared the ball with his left foot, stopping its progress in close proximity, then returned to his preferred left foot to chip Rangel and curl his effort underneath the crossbar. Sullivan was beyond jubilant, clattering into the corner flag as his teammates converged before patting the US crest over his heart.

Sullivan’s first international goal was always bound to be a staple of his and the team’s highlight reels, an occasion years in the making as the nation’s latest wunderkind-in-waiting. The quality of his solo effort warrants ample replays on its own merit, making his nation’s great rival know his threat from his very first shift.

Something of a Mexican meltdown ensued as the players struggled to return to their former state of control. Substitutes collided in the 67th minute, with Yunus Musah’s attempt to dribble upfield being thwarted by a Mateo Chavez kick through the legs. The foul brought both teams together in a confrontation as referee Selvin Brown raised a red card to the AZ Alkmaar defender, much to the fans’ dismay. For years, El Tri fans have infamously soundtracked opponents’ goal kicks by chanting a homophobic slur. After considerable mistakes on both goals, the supporters instead bellowed the bigoted cry on Rangel’s restarts, with the stadium operators declining to follow through on their pre-match threats to stop the game if the chant emerged. The fans also took to booing Rangel’s every touch, taking one item off of a hosting fanbase’s usual list of responsibilities. Perhaps inevitably, Rangel struggled with the unusual jeering. Another poor backpass, this time from Álvaro Fidalgo, rolled right into the box with Rangel staying near his goalline in hopes a center-back would collect. Instead, Malik Tillman strode on to the loose ball and placed it into the upper corner, closing what once looked like a comfortable day for Mexico into downright humiliation.

In the lead-up to the game, Adams spoke about how the winner of this matchup tends to be seen as the region’s current power. In this case the US took that power because it was given, and taken advantage of.