During a cold, rainy night inside TQL Stadium, the United States men's soccer team defeated Mexico 2-0, or "Dos a Cero," in a sold-out World Cup qualifying match.
Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie netted a goal each for the American side. Pulisic came on during the 70th minute. The Chelsea FC forward said he was ready to come in at any point.
"The timing seemed, well you can't argue with the timing, it was perfect," Pulisic said. "It was our game to lose it felt like and we played really well today."
Assisting Pulisic on the goal was Lille forward Tim Weah. When asked about not having Mexico's respect before the match, he said it's a new era for the rivalry.
"Before the game, Mexico was talking a lot of smack and you know, beating them just shuts them up and we have to continue to win games and continue to beat them and that's the only way we're going to earn their respect and earn the world's respect," Weah said. "I think we're on a great path right now and the future's bright."
The archrivals met in the Queen City for the 72nd time overall Friday night. While the U.S. is 22-36-15 all-time against Mexico, America has had a winning record against their foes since 2000 at 17-9-6.
The United States now jumps to first place in the . Mexico is now second.
The USMNT will play Jamaica on November 16 in a World Cup qualifying match. Eight countries from the CONCACAF region are battling for three spots in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The fourth-place team will enter inter-confederation play for a final spot.
You can watch the full postgame press conference below:
Showcasing a "true soccer town"
Before the match, fans gathered at Rhinehaus just a few blocks away for a live event hosted by .
Bryan Wiegel is the co-host of the soccer podcast that mainly covers FC Cincinnati. He says this match not only has big implications for the sport nationally, but locally.
Supporters from across the nation are meeting up with the local group in Cincinnati. Todd Smith is the president of . He says fans have come from as far as Hawaii to watch this match. He hopes that fans realize that Cincinnati is a "true soccer town."
"You think of great soccer towns in the country — St. Louis comes to mind, a couple others — we want to be right up there in that conversation," Smith said. "This is our chance to showcase that, this is our chance to show the country what we can do as a soccer city, and then hopefully that leads to bigger things like World Cup matches in 2026."
You can watch the CST livestream event from Rhinehaus below:
