USMNT survives heart-stopping penalty shootout thriller vs Costa Rica to reach Gold Cup semifinal

Alexi Lamas joins Colin Cowherd to discuss the USMNT making the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup.

The United States men’s national soccer team is moving on to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup after a dramatic penalty shootout against Costa Rica. 

The match was deadlocked at two goals apiece after 90-plus minutes, leading to the penalty shootout that had all the dramatics to keep everyone on the edge of their seats to see who would be moving on. 

After the USMNT’s Tyler Adams and Costa Rica’s Alonso Martinez buried their attempts to begin the penalty shootout, goalkeeper Matt Freese from the U.S. made a tremendous save on Juan Pablo Vargas’ shot to give his team the upper hand.

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United States of America goalkeeper Matthew Freese (25) reacts in a shoot out against Costa Rica during a quarterfinal match of the 2025 Gold Cup at U.S. Bank Stadium.  (Brad Rempel/Imagn Images)

This came after Malik Tillman made up for a missed penalty shot during regular time that could’ve been the game-winner, perfectly placing his shot to his left past Costa Rican legend Keylor Navas. 

But Sebastian Berhalter, the son of former USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter, evened things up when he sent his attempt flying over the net. Santiago van der Putten’s follow-up shot for Costa Rica got past Freese despite the goalkeeper guessing the right way. 

After Alex Freeman and Jefferson Brenes made their shots respectively, Freese got yet another save on Francisco Calvo’s attempt, giving John Tolkin the shot to end it all for the USMNT. But Navas came up clutch, as he leapt to his left and swatted away Tolkin’s shot. 

An extra round was needed, but Freese was simply locked in. He was able to stop