Christian Pulisic scored his first international hat trick as the United States secured a crucial 5-1 victory over Panama on Sunday in front of an announced sell-out crowd of 25,022 in attendance at Exploria Stadium during the penultimate match of World Cup qualifying.
“We knew we were in a position where the group needed to respond,” U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said after the game. “When I look at the effort and intensity of the first half and the level that we’re playing, it was really impressive. You can see exactly what the guys took on and their motivation to get back to the World Cup.
“We scored five goals in the game; think we could have had more. We’re a little bit more clinical at times, but we made a big step toward our goal of qualifying for the World Cup. We know we’re not there yet … [and] we know we still have a game to go, and it’s a difficult game in Costa Rica.”
The win did not secure qualification to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar for the Americans. Earlier in the day, Costa Rica defeated El Salvador 2-1, meaning the U.S. will go into the final matchday of qualifiers in Costa Rica on Wednesday needing to lock up a berth for this year’s tournament in November.
The U.S. started to find its footing after the first 10 minutes against Panama, finding set-piece opportunities to score.
In the 14th minute, head referee Ivan Barton consulted with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for a possible penalty after Anibal Godoy appeared to foul Walker Zimmerman inside the box.
Moments later, Pulisic converted his penalty kick to give the U.S. the 1-0 lead in the 17th minute.
Paul Arriola doubled the lead for the U.S. in the 23rd minute when a cross from Antonee Robinson connected with the FC Dallas player, who headed the ball past goalkeeper Luis Mejia to make it 2-0.
The U.S. increased its lead to 3-0 in the 27th minute when Luca de la Torre fed a through-ball to Shaq Moore, who then crossed the ball to Arriola. He turned and found Jesus Ferreira to slot the ball past the goalkeeper.
Pulisic made it 4-0 during first-half stoppage time after converting the penalty and recording his second of the night.
Robinson secured his second assist to help Pulisic secure his hat trick after his cross found the Chelsea winger, who managed to finish off a cross and strike the ball to make it 5-0 in the 65th minute.
Panama managed to pull one back in the 86th minute when Gaby Torres’ free kick connected with Godoy, who headed the ball past goalkeeper Zack Steffen to reduce the U.S. lead to 5-1.
The U.S. entered Sunday’s game after playing to a scoreless draw against Mexico at the Estadio Azteca.
Sunday’s game had many implications for the United States, which is looking to return to the World Cup after failing to qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia.
The U.S. played Panama to a similar victory in 2017, winning 4-0 at Exploria Stadium, before a disappointing loss days later in Trinidad and Tobago ended the Americans’ chances of playing in the 2018 World Cup.
The United States now heads to Costa Rica for a 9:05 p.m. kickoff that will stream live on Paramount Plus. The U.S. is three points ahead of fourth-place Costa Rica and, due to a superior goal differential, would need to lose to Costa Rica by at least six goals to be in any trouble of not qualifying.
Arriola, who was part of the U.S. team in 2017, admitted that despite the decisive win over Panama, it’s not the time to rejoice.
“I’m not celebrating anything,” Arriola said. “I was in this exact position or very similar position four years ago, and we know how that qualification ended. It’s just maintaining focus, understanding that we have work to do and anything is possible. The mentality of this group is and has to be to go down to [Costa Rica] and get a good result.”
