The US men’s soccer team lost to Canada for the first time in 34 years, allowing second-half goals to Alphonso Davies and Lucas Cavallini in a 2-0 defeat on Tuesday night in the Concacaf Nations League.
A little over two years after the Americans failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup by losing to Trinidad & Tobago, they saw their 17-match unbeaten streak against their northern neighbors come to an end.
Davies turned in a cross from Scott Arfield. Goalkeeper Zack Steffen put a palm up to block Davies’ shot but the ball still dropped over the line as Canada’s players rushed to join Davies for a raucous celebration. Cavallini added a goal in the 90th-minute for Canada, beating Steffen to the near post with a low shot.
Christian Pulisic had a point-blank shot saved by goalkeeper Milan Borjan in the 51st minute. The US, coming off last week’s opening 7-0 home rout of Cuba, had nine wins and eight draws against Canada since a 2-0 friendly defeat in Vancouver in April 1985.
Canada are trying to climb into the top six in the region in Fifa rankings, which will be used next summer to determine the nations in the hexagonal that will produce the three direct qualifiers from the North and Central American and Caribbean region for the 2022 World Cup.
The U.S. and Canada meet again next month in Florida, and the US face Cuba four days later.
The USA coach, Gregg Berhalter, made four changes, bringing in Steffen, right-back DeAndre Yedlin, central defender Aaron Long and midfielder Michael Bradley. Yedlin made his first international appearance since March after recovering from groin surgery.
