Updated Gold Cup bracket after USMNT survives a scare against Costa Rica

Exhale, everybody. Like seemingly everything about this USMNT program right now, it wasn't always pretty. But despite falling down 1-0 on an early penalty, despite giving up the equalizer in the 71st minute, despite two crucial penalty misses, Mauricio Pochettino managed to survive Costa Rica in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Gold Cup.

If this green American roster was looking to get its feet wet on the international stage, they got thrown into the deep end on Sunday night in Minneapolis. The Costa Ricans refused to give an inch, as they always do. And Francisco Calvo's early penalty conversion had the American fans in attendance wondering whether they were going to see yet more heartbreak on the CONCACAF stage.

But Diego Luna leveled the score just before halftime and Maximilian Arfsten gave the U.S. the lead just after the break, and while Costa Rica did enough to send it to penalties, three big saves from Matt Freese were enough to see the Americans through to the semifinals.

Now the question becomes: Which team is waiting for them? The answer to that question may surprise you, thanks to the upset of the tournament earlier on Sunday afternoon.

Updated Gold Cup bracket after quarterfinals

It looked for all the world like we were heading for a semifinal showdown between the U.S. and Canada, two bitter rivals made all the more so since American Jesse Marsch took over the Canadian program. But that wasn't to be: Canada was shocked in its quarterfinal by Guatemala, losing in penalties after a red card helped the Guatemalans equalize in the second half.

Now, the Americans' side of the bracket has been blown wide open. It will Guatemala, a team currently ranked 106th in the world which hasn't reached this stage of the Gold Cup since 1969, facing the U.S. on Wednesday night, with a trip to the final on the line.

Guatemala just proved its mettle on a big stage, and they'll relish the chance to do so again; this is hardly a game that the U.S. can take lightly, especially considering which names are missing and the sorts of performances the team has put forth of late. But this just underscores what a tremendous opportunity Pochettino and Co. have in front of them. And if they're able to take care of business on Wednesday night, a marquee matchup against Mexico could await in the final. El Tri will meet Honduras in the second semifinal of the evening after dispatching Saudi Arabia in the quarters.