USMNT pressure "ramped up exponentially" in Gold Cup quarterfinals

The 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup knockout stage has arrived, leaving the US men’s national team one week and three victories away from winning the regional tournament for the eighth time in program history.

But head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s squad knows that is far from guaranteed, and dreams of lifting silverware on July 6 at NRG Stadium in Houston require going one step at a time.

Enter a quarterfinal test vs. Costa Rica, held Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where a common theme shapes the elimination match (7 pm ET | FOX, Univision, TUDN).

“With Costa Rica, we know they’re really competitive,” said midfielder Brenden Aaronson, a Philadelphia Union homegrown product who recently helped Leeds United get promoted back to the English Premier League.

“The first thing is knowing we have to reach their intensity – as always with every Concacaf or Gold Cup game, you have to reach their intensity and how high the speed of play is in games like that. It’s a quarterfinal, so it’s going to be tough. But if we match their intensity, I think we can show our quality and finish the game.”

Road ahead

To book this matchup, the USMNT topped Group D by winning three straight games against Trinidad & Tobago, Saudi Arabia and Haiti by a combined 8-1 scoreline.

Costa Rica also went undefeated, placing second in Group A after battling Mexico to a 0-0 draw and rattling off wins over Suriname (4-3) and the Dominican Republic (2-1).

Los Ticos, now led by manager Miguel Herrera, are rounding into form after integrating new players and transitioning beyond the core that fueled trips to the last three FIFA World Cups. But they still have a game-changer in legendary goalkeeper Keylor Navas and a familiar threat in New York City FC striker Alonso Martínez.

“We expect them to be aggressive, we expect them to fight and battle for everything. That's the way most of these games go,” said Charlotte FC center back Tim Ream, who has a team-high 72 caps.

“The group games were a nice taste of what is to come, but this game is ramped up exponentially. We expect it to be a very tough, physical opponent who, as long as we match and exceed their aggression, we'll be alright.”

Eyes on the prize

Should the USMNT win, they’ll face the Canada-Guatemala quarterfinal winner in a July 2 semifinal at St. Louis CITY SC’s Energizer Park. Then, Mexico and Panama are the presumptive favorites on the other side of the bracket.

The USMNT’s hopes are fueled by an MLS-heavy roster that includes newcomers like Orlando City right back Alex Freeman and New York City FC goalkeeper Matt Freese, as well as more established players like Ream and San Diego FC midfielder Luca de la Torre.

Pochettino is confident the group will complete the job, whoever he calls on.

“We have a group of players who are very focused, very involved and very committed to the team,” said Pochettino in Saturday's matchday-1 press conference. “After more than four weeks working together, we know what we need to do.

“The team is ready to compete, and then football has too many factors that sometimes we cannot control. But I think all the factors that we have the possibility to control through the attitude, the commitment and the enthusiasm – everything the players did until now is fantastic. Now, tomorrow it's time to deliver and compete and try to be better than our opponent.”