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USA vs. Panama: Final Score 5-1 as USMNT Romps in World Cup Qualifying Win in Orlando

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4 years ago

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United States Men’s National Team captain Christian Pulisic scored a hat trick — with two of those goals from the penalty spot — to lead the Yanks to a resounding 5-1 win over Panama at Exploria Stadium. Paul Arriola and Jesus Ferreira also scored as the U.S. put four on the board in the first half to take control of the match.

The USMNT still hasn’t lost in Exploria Stadium and tonight was the Yanks’ most decisive win to date. While the win by Costa Rica kept the U.S. from clinching a spot in the World Cup, the lopsided victory puts the USMNT on solid footing with one match to play in the qualifying campaign.

“We knew we were in a position where the group needed to respond, and when I look at the effort and intensity of the first half and the level that we’re playing, it was really impressive,” U.S. Head Coach Gregg Berhalter said after the match. “You can see exactly what the guys took on, and and their motivation to get back to the World Cup. We scored five goals in the game, and I think we could have had more if we were a little bit more clinical at times, but we made a big step towards our goal of qualifying for the World Cup.”

Berhalter started Zack Steffen in goal behind a back line of Antonee Robinson, Miles Robinson, Walker Zimmerman, and Shaq Moore. Tyler Adams, Yunus Musah, and Luca de la Torre manned the midfield behind an attacking line of Pulisic, Ferreira, and Arriola.

Los Canaleros looked to keep possession and work for a good shot early while the Yanks seemed content to pick their spots to press and look for transition opportunities. Panama had a good early spell of possession and Adalberto Carrasquilla fizzed a hard shot over Steffen’s crossbar in the eighth minute.

Arriola drew a free kick on the right just outside the penalty area in the 10th minute and that eventually led to the U.S. breakthrough. Pulisic went for goal on the free kick and it took a deflection, giving the USMNT a corner. Miles Robinson knocked down the corner cross in the box and Moore was the first to it, sending a hard shot/cross toward goal, where it was knocked out for another corner.

Zimmerman went down hard on the second U.S. corner kick of the match and was slow to get up. On a stoppage after the ensuing run of play, Zimmerman smartly picked up the ball to delay the restart, which allowed referee Ivan Barton to have a chat with the video assistant referee, Marco Ortiz.

Barton went to the monitor to look at the play again and determined that Panama’s Anibal Godoy had fouled his Nashville SC teammate in the area. The penalty was awarded and Pulisic smashed it just under the bar to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute.

Panama tried to pull that goal right back with some quick and physical play and a ball into the area nearly found a friendly head in the area in the 20th minute. Steffen went up and did just enough to prevent a goal and the ball pinged around in the box and was close enough for the keeper to grab. Whether he didn’t see it or couldn’t get his body into position, the loose ball continued to elude everyone until the defense could finally clear it and calm down the mad scramble.

“Panama’s a good team, and you could see that guys were processing everything and dealing through working through the pressure of the game and the physicality of Panama,” Berhalter said. “And thankfully we had the breakthrough, and the guys put a lot into it.”

Moments later, Robinson was sent down the left side and sent in a perfect cross. Arriola rose to meet it and flicked it into the right side of the net to double the lead in the 23rd minute.

“I was super happy with the goal and obviously to help the team,” Arriola said after the match. “As an attacking player, it’s always important to try and make your mark and be productive in the final third.”

The U.S. wasn’t done. Four minutes later, a good buildup ended up on Moore’s foot and his cross deflected in. Ferreira was the first to it and slipped it home to make it 3-0 in the 27th minute.

It was the first time that the USMNT had scored three goals in the first half in a World Cup qualifier since the last time the U.S. and Panama played a qualifier in Orlando in October of 2017.

The game calmed down for a bit after that, with much of the play between the boxes. But the end of the first half produced more fireworks.

After Godoy flashed a shot just wide of the left post for Panama, the Yanks were looking for more at the other end. A quick passing sequence unlocked Antonee Robinson down the left and he put in a dangerous cross. Arriola headed it back across the front of goal and Ferreira went for a bicycle kick but it sailed over the bar.

Pulisic made it four with his second goal from the spot on the night in first-half stoppage time. Godoy was booked and Barton wasted no time in pointing to the spot. The captain stepped up and smashed it into the top right corner. Luis Mejia guessed correctly but couldn’t keep it out and the U.S. lead bulged to 4-0.

The United States took its four-goal lead into the break. Panama held 60.7% of the possession and passed more accurately in the opening half (75.7%-71.7%), but the Yanks had more shots (10-5), shots on target (4-1), and corners (2-1).

Panama came out of the locker room strong, pressing high and forcing the U.S. into several turnovers. The back line had to do some emergency defending, with two big blocks by Antonee Robinson and a vital sliding block by Tyler Adams to deny Alberto Quintero.

Gaby Torres sent a header toward goal after that deflection but Steffen was there to catch it.

Second-half sub Gio Reyna had a big impact on the game. Just moments after the restart, he flashed a shot just wide of the left post from the right corner of the box. His passing unlocked a couple of opportunities that the U.S. was unlucky not to finish, including a ball to de la Torre, who found Ferreira in front. The FC Dallas striker had a great opportunity to make it 5-0, but he fired just over the bar from about 10 yards out.

Pulisic continued the onslaught in the 65th minute. Taking a ball from Robinson on the left, the captain deftly cradled the ball on his foot, spun around two defenders, and slotted home his third goal of the match, making it 5-0.

“There’s something special about Christian,” Arriola said. “And, you know, him as our captain tonight, to be able to step up a couple times to finish PKs, and then his great run and finish that he had for his third goal was great. I mean, he’s a great kid, great leader, obviously unbelievable, even better person, so i’m super happy for him.”

Panama pulled one back late on a free kick. Substitute Aaron Long appeared to do well in breaking up a counter attack but was called for a foul and booked. Godoy got onto the ensuing cross from Eric Davis and nodded into the bottom left corner, well out of Steffen’s reach in the 86th minute.

From there, the U.S. simply booted the ball up the field and saw out the remaining time to cap the victory. Panama held the advantage in possession (60.5%-39.5%), and passed more accurately (82.1%-76.4%), but the U.S. fired more shots (15-10), got more on target (5-2), and won more corners (3-2).

The match had an electric atmosphere throughout, even after the U.S. had taken its huge lead. That energy transferred to the players on the pitch.

“The crowd was unbelievable,” Berhalter said. “We enjoy playing in Orlando, this is exactly why. The crowd, even when we arrived at the stadium, the people in their seats and cheering and really help boost the team.”

The USMNT will finish World Cup qualifying on Wednesday at Costa Rica. The United States can qualify with a win, a draw, or a loss by five or fewer goals.

“We know we still have a game to go, and it’s a difficult game in Costa Rica,” Berhalter said. “So, our job right now is to recover, do regeneration. and then the healthy guys, fit guys, get them on the field and go compete in San Jose, where we’ve never won before.”

“I’m not celebrating anything,” Arriola said. “I was in this exact position, or a very similar position four years ago, and we know how that that qualification ended. So, for me, I think it’s just maintaining focus, understanding that we still have work to do, and anything is possible. The mentality of this group is, and has to be, to go down there to get a good result against Costa Rica.”

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Orlando City restarts its 2026 MLS campaign late tonight out west at San Jose.

Published

2 weeks ago

on

July 22, 2026

By

Image of Braian Ojeda taking a shot in a friendly against FC Dallas.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a late night midweek matchup tonight between Orlando City (4-9-2, 14 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-2, 32 points) at PayPal Park (10:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams in 2026 and the first time the teams have met since 2024.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s match.

History

Orlando City is 3-1-3 in the previous seven MLS meetings with the Quakes since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015. The Lions got their only away win in the series in the last meeting and enter tonight 1-1-2 on the road against San Jose.

The teams last met on May 18, 2024, with Jack Lynn coming off the bench to score the game’s only goal. Lynn’s strike in the 89th minute broke the scoreless deadlock and lifted the Lions to a 1-0 victory.

The teams met in Orlando most recently way back on June 22, 2021, with the Lions beating the Quakes down, 5-0. Orlando got things started with an early penalty kick goal by Nani, followed by braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike to easily put the game away. The lasting memory from the game is Michel’s celebratory dance wearing a cowboy hat that came out of the stands.

Prior to that Orlando City romp, the last time the teams met was on Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lions got freight trained 3-0 at Avaya Stadium, giving the Quakes their first win in the series. San Jose’s offense came via a Chris Wondolowski brace and an early opening goal by Magnus Eriksson. Orlando looked flat and weary out of the gate.

The Lions were victorious in Exploria Stadium in the 2018 meeting on April 21, a 3-2 Orlando win. It was the first win in the series for either side after three straight draws. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer gave the Lions a 3-0 lead before Florian Jungwirth pulled two back in the game’s late stages.

The Lions led all of the first three matches in the second half only to see San Jose pull level, with two of those tying goals coming late. In the 2017 meeting, Carlos Rivas finally broke the scoreless tie and gave Orlando City the lead in the 81st minute, but Wondolowski spoiled the Lions’ night with an equalizer two minutes later as the teams drew at Avaya Stadium, 1-1.

In 2016, the Lions were gut-punched in the 94th minute in an emotional match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the first home match following the Pulse nightclub tragedy and what appeared to be a storybook ending to a cathartic win turned sour on a last-gasp equalizer by Shea Salinas. Seb Hines — now the Orlando Pride’s head coach — opened the scoring for Orlando, only to see Chad Barrett tie it up. Julio Baptista restored the lead in stoppage time, but Salinas ruined everything.

The two teams also drew in the first meeting, a 1-1 affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Lions down to 10 men after Brek Shea was sent off in the first half. Kaká and Wondolowski each scored from the penalty spot four minutes apart in that initial meeting.

Overview

The teams meet tonight to get their post-World Cup portion of the season started. Orlando City has been terrible on the road all season long, keeping only one MLS opponent under two goals all year away from home and allowing five goals twice (at New York City FC and Nashville) and six goals twice (at LAFC and in the team’s most recent match away at FC Cincinnati just before the break).

Orlando City is a putrid 1-6-1 on the road this season, and now the Lions must face the Western Conference co-leaders tonight before coming home to face Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC at home on Saturday. They’ll have to play at least tonight’s game without Martin Ojeda, who is out with a thigh injury sustained some time between his first-half goal a week ago in a friendly against FC Dallas and the time the availability report dropped on Tuesday.

But it isn’t all bad news for the Lions, who should have both Antoine Griezmann and Dike in the lineup. Griezmann was the club’s highly prized and widely publicized summer Designated Player signing, while Dike’s return to Orlando came together more recently, following his departure from West Bromwich Albion. They’ll help the club’s offense, but the attack hasn’t been the issue in 2026 — it’s been the historically porous defense, which is on pace to shatter the MLS record for goals conceded.

Meanwhile, San Jose is one of the first half of the season’s biggest surprises, as the Quakes have been outstanding in 2026. Scoring 34 goals while conceding just 15, San Jose is among the league leaders in goals scored (tied for third), goals conceded (third), and goal differential (+19, third).

The Earthquakes are 4-2-1 at home and are coming off a 3-1 road win at Portland in their last game prior to the World Cup break. San Jose boasts Golden Boot challenger Preston Judd, who leads the Quakes with 11 goals, adding two assists in his 15 appearances. Ousseni Bouda has chipped in five goals and three assists. Niko Tsakiris leads the team with seven assists to go along with his two goals, but he’s still recovering from a lower body injury and is not available tonight. However, the arrival of Timo Werner (four goals and five assists in just seven games) has truly elevated Bruce Arena’s Quakes, and he’ll need to be one of the main focal points for the Orlando defense.

To have any shot at taking something from this game, the Lions will need to play better road defense than they have all season. Orlando can score goals, but with Ojeda out, Griezmann will need to adapt quickly, and someone other than the team’s leading scorer will need to find the net.

The Lions will play without Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (knee), Nolan Miller (knee), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archage (international duty). In addition, Marco Pasalic may or may not have returned to the team after the World Cup. He was not in training Monday, although interim head coach Martin Perelman said he expected the Croatian back soon. The Earthquakes will be without Nonso Adimabua (lower body), former Lion Earl Edwards Jr. (lower body), DeJuan Jones (lower body), and Tsakiris (you guessed it, lower body…come on, San Jose).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Bernardo Rhein, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn.

Defenders: Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benjamin Kikanovic.

Defensive Midfielders: Beau Lerouox, Ronaldo Vieira.

Attacking Midfielders: Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez, Ousseni Bouda.

Forwards: Preston Judd.

Bench: Jonathan Gonzalez, Dave Romney, Paul Marie, Jack Skahan, Jack Jasinski, Ian Harkes, Francesco Montali, Max Floriani, Darius Johnson.

Referees

REF: Elijio Arreguin.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Timothy Ford.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: PayPal Park — San Jose, CA.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 542: Tampa Bay Friendly, McGuire Traded, OCB Beats Cincinnati, and More

Lions maul the Rowdies in friendly action, OCB wins on the road, and it’s transfer season.

Published

3 weeks ago

on

July 14, 2026

By

Image of Antoine Griezmann and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 119: International Break, USWNT, Louisville Preview, and More

The Pride return from a long international break looking to get their first-ever road win against Racing Louisville.

Published

3 months ago

on

April 22, 2026

By

Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

It feels like months since the Orlando Pride last took the field, but the calendar says otherwise. If you believe calendars, it’s only been a little less than three weeks, but time moves strangely in the post-pandemic apocalyptic world.

Anyway, we don’t have a match to recap, so we touched on a couple of Pride players putting the ball in the net during the international break and chat a bit about the United States Women’s National Team’s three-game friendly series against Japan. Emma Hayes used a lot of players, and the team looked solid for two of the three matches, but the rotated middle game seemed a bit disjointed. Hayes has greatly expanded the player pool and will have plenty of options when the World Cup approaches.

Our mailbagbox had questions about a potential change in the NWSL schedule, as the league explores adopting the fall-to-spring slate, and opposition own goals. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we turned our attention toward Friday’s late afternoon tussle with Racing Louisville in Kentucky. The Pride have never won on the road against Louisville, and it’s about high time they did. This match begins a congested push to the June World Cup break, and although Friday’s hosts aren’t high in the table, the Pride must be at their best to get a road result in this fixture. We look back at the series history, compare the two sides, provide our key matchups in the game, and make our final score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 119 went down:

0:15 – We open the show with a little banter about the Pride in the international break and the USWNT’s series vs. Japan.

9:03 – The mailbagbox features questions via both eletronic mail and social media. We welcome all modes of delivery.

19:59 – The Pride travel to Louisville to face Racing. They’ve never won in Kentucky, but we inform them how to do so.

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