You likely know by now the outcome of the third-place match between Mexico and Portugal in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. If you don't, let us catch you up.
After a series of impressive saves (including a penalty) from Man of the Match Guillermo Ochoa, Mexico were just three minutes away from a third place finish. Then Pepe got ahold of a cross from Ricardo Quaresma to send the game into extra time.
Mexico took care of Paraguay in their final warm-up before the CONFACAF Gold Cup, winning 2-1 behind goals from Rodolfo Pizarro and Elias Hernandez.
Pizarro opened the scoring when he pounced on a rebound and put it in the back of the net.
Chivas making presence felt on the NT tonight. @Rpizarrot w/ the golazo. #ElTriEng pic.twitter.com/nXiyHq2MKf
In 15 previous editions of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the outlandishly large trophy has been lifted by either Mexico or the United States on 14 occasions. The only other nation to have triumphed at the event isn’t Central American power Costa Rica, nor is it previous tournament guests Brazil or Colombia. In 2000, the Gold Cup was won by the world's 85th-ranked side — Canada.
The Canadians made a historic run to the final, frequently playing in a Los Angeles Coliseum that was at about 3 percent capacity, beginning with the successful navigation of group play via a coin toss.
Mexico already trailed by three when Marco Fabian lashed at the ball with all his might, catching everyone by surprise.
Fabian sliced a wonder strike past Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the 89th minute, but few will remember this match for that goal.
Instead, what will be remembered is El Tri surrendering two goals in the first eight minutes en route to a crushing 4-1 defeat in the Confederations Cup semifinals Thursday in Russia.
Germany will play Chile in the final on Sunday while Mexico gets a Cristiano Ronaldo-less Portugal in the third-place game.
Jesse Gonzalez is probably the best young goalkeeper in MLS. The 22-year-old FC Dallas goalie is tall, athletic and composed. Sounds perfect for the USMNT, right? I mean, Tim Howard and Brad Guzan are getting older, and there hasn't been a heir apparent to step into their shoes.
The problem was until today, Gonzalez was actually in Mexico's player pool. However, Gonzalez filed paperwork for a one-time national team switch, and today FIFA approved the move. This is a big deal. Gonzalez has a while to go before he even hits his prime, and he's already really good.
Ghana coach James Kwesi Appiah might be on board with Donald Trump’s vision for a big, beautiful wall along the Mexican border.
After Ghana lost 1-0 to Mexico on Wednesday in Houston, Appiah didn’t complain about his team’s inability to put away chances, but instead he was dismayed that a Mexican-American was allowed to referee the game.
The Confederations Cup will play its eighth final on Sunday, July 2.
For the first time since 2003, Brazil will not be in said final.
The Brazilians have dominated this tournament, winning four of the seven editions and reaching the final another time. Only France (twice) has been to more than one final, winning in 2001 and 2003.
While the Confederations Cup can occasionally create some less-than-stellar matches in the group stage, the finals have been entertaining at the very least.
Goals from Nestor Araujo and Hirving Lozano were enough to see Mexico through to the semifinals of the FIFA Confederations Cup. Russia took an early lead through Aleksandr Samedov, but Yuri Zhirkov’s red card in the 68th minute extinguished any hopes of a Russian comeback.
Portugal’s 4-0 victory over New Zealand consigned Mexico to a runners-up finish in Group A, setting up a semifinal match against, most likely, either Germany or Chile.
With the Russia World Cup less than a year away, we here at The18 asked ourselves who are the best (and worst) fans in the world.
We’ve compiled a list below of superlatives to break down what makes each country’s fans unique, for better or worse.
Note: We limited results to nations that are or have been regular World Cup qualifiers. Scroll to the bottom for the best and worst fans.