• Both teams still going for it, with 14 minutes of the 90 to go.
• Both look capable of finding a second goal.
• Announced attendance, by the way, is 68,212. Not a sellout, but it very much filled in for the final.
• Mexico’s best qualities and its clearest flaws have been on display here.
• They play with plenty of passion. They’ve clearly bought in to what Aguirre is preaching. They have two superb strikers, and Edson has been close to his combative best.
• But, they lack attacking structure and creativity. Roberto Alvarado just epitomized that when he let an attack fizzle with a sloppy touch on the right wing. So they haven’t been able to overwhelm Panama.
• Still 1-1, 74th minute.

58′ | Double mexican sub 🇲🇽⬅️ L. Romo & R. Alvarado

➡️L. Chávez & A. Vega

— Mexican National Team (@miseleccionmxEN) March 24, 2025

• Panama’s midfielder #16 Carlos Harvey and Mexico’s defender #03 Cesar Montes jump to head the ball during the CONCACAF Nations League final football match between Mexico and Panama at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on March 23, 2025. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
• Panama came to play. Took an early punch and never even wobbled. (Also got essentially the exact same penalty that Canada didn’t get three days earlier.)
• Almost no matter how this final ends, Los Canaleros have been the most impressive team this week.
• Should be an excellent second half.
• Panama’s Adalberto Carrasquilla gets the penalty past Luis Malagon to even things up just before halftime.
• Panama is the inferior team, and is out of its comfort zone — it can’t just sit in the 5-4-1 it used to frustrate the U.S.
• So, it would’ve been fair to expect Mexico to run away with this game. But they haven’t. Panama has found a good balance between attacking in numbers and maintaining its structure.
• Still 1-0 with halftime approaching.
• A rough tackle on César Huerta on a breakout earns a card for the Panamanian.

With this recent goal against Panama in the Nations League final, Raul Jimenez ties the record for third player with the most goals for the Mexican national team. 1: Chicharito (52)2: Jared Borgetti (46)

3: Cuauhtemoc / Raul Jimenez (38)

— Lizzy Becherano (@lizzy_becherano) March 24, 2025

• Raul Jimenez’s hot streak continues as he bounces a quick header into the net off a perfectly placed pass by Alvarado!

Javier Aguirre has only coached against Panama once, despite this being his third time in charge of the Mexican National Team. It was a 1-1 draw in the 2009 Gold Cup. This will live in Concacaf shithousery folklore.

pic.twitter.com/Te9rfRfC1w

— herculez gomez (@herculezg) March 24, 2025

“We didn’t ever know if he was going to return to this level. Five years later, he has hit that sweet spot for Mexico.”@Nicocantor1 praises Raúl Jiménez for overcoming a traumatic injury and hitting his stride with the current Mexico squad 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/AvYv6nLAQ2

— Golazo America (@GolazoAmerica) March 24, 2025