Pochettino Slams Officiating After U.S. Falls to Mexico in Gold Cup

Summary:

• The U.S. lost the Gold Cup final 2-1 to Mexico on Sunday night.
• Coach Mauricio Pochettino criticized three officiating decisions, including a denied handball penalty and Mexico’s winning goal.
• Pochettino argued that the VAR reversal on Edson Álvarez’s goal ignored an offside and called a foul on Diego Luna unfair.

Mauricio Pochettino couldn’t hold back after the U.S. men’s national team fell 2-1 to Mexico in Sunday’s CONCACAF Gold Cup final.

The Argentinian who has been coaching the team since August 2024 directed sharp criticism at the officiating crew for what he described as three decisive mistakes.

The U.S. coach was particularly frustrated that the video review system wasn’t used to overturn what he thought was a clear handball and a controversial game-winning goal by El Tri, the third such incident involving Mexico in this tournament.

The Argentinian argued his side should have been awarded a penalty in the 67th minute when Jorge Sánchez handled the ball while trying to regain his balance in the box after colliding with Max Arfsten. Guatemalan referee Mario Escobar was seen signaling for play to carry on.

Pochettino said,

I’m not going to cry. I wanted to tell the truth. And the truth was that if that happened in the opposite half, in the other box, for sure it’s a penalty. You say silly penalty, silly penalty. It’s like plenty of penalties that are so silly. Silly, yes. The player was with the knee on the floor. He pushed the hand over the ball. It’s not that the hand was on the floor and the ball touched.

“Nothing More to Say.”

His frustrations grew when Diego Luna was whistled for a foul on Alexis Vega in the 77th minute, leading to the free kick that produced Mexico’s winner.

“He slipped and fall down alone”, Pochettino said. Johan Vásquez flicked the set piece across goal where Edson Álvarez, appearing to have come from an offside position, scored what proved to be the decisive goal.

Initially ruled offside, the decision was overturned by VAR.

Pochettino insisted

When he touched the ball, the player from Mexico delivered the ball, was in an offside position.That’s it. Nothing more to say.

Defender Chris Richards, who had given the U.S. an early lead in the fourth minute, echoed his coach’s frustration, claiming the officiating always seems to favor Mexico.

Palmed the ball like Shaq in the box. Any other week it would be called offside. But, again, that’s CONCACAF for you. They hate us and we just have to keep moving with it.

Pochettino concluded by saying,

If we lose, we lose. No problem. I am the first to say, hey, we need to improve. But I am not crying, I am saying nothing against Mexico. Nothing. I respect Mexico. But I think my player doesn’t deserve this.

The head coach, who was given two years to prepare the team for the 2026 FIFA World Cup hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, ultimately described Sunday’s “situation” as “embarrassing” and a “shame” to witness.