Weston McKennie scored a hat trick inside the opening 13 minutes as the US men’s national team cruised to a 7-0 win over Cuba in their Concacaf Nations League Group A opener Friday at Audi Field.
McKennie also set up Jordan Morris for a 9th minute goal and three minutes after a Cuban own goal, Josh Sargent gave the USMNT a six-goal cushion heading Into the break. Morris tied a USMNT record for assists in a match with three in the first half.
Christian Pulisic tacked on a seventh goal from the penalty spot in the 62nd minute in one of the USMNT’s most lopsided victories.
🇺🇸 #USMNT's 7-0 win over Cuba matches the second-largest margin of victory in team history.
— Paul Carr (@PaulCarr) October 12, 2019
🇺🇸 The seven goals equal the third-most the USMNT has scored in a game.
McKennie got the party started with the second fastest USMNT goal ever, tapping in a Morris cross at the back post 30 seconds after kickoff.
The Schalke midfielder scored a carbon copy four minutes later, again scoring at the back post off a Morris service.
McKennie then set up Morris, who put a left-footed shot inside the near post to make it 3-0 inside the first 10 minutes. McKennie completed the hat trick four minutes later, crashing the net to latch onto a Reggie Cannon driven ball across the face of goal. It was the fastest hat trick from the start of the match in USMNT history.
Goals
- 1’ — USA — Weston McKennie | WATCH
- 5’ — USA — Weston McKennie | WATCH
- 9’ — USA — Jordan Morris | WATCH
- 13’ — USA — Weston McKennie | WATCH
- 37’ — USA — Dario Ramos (own goal) | WATCH
- 40’ — USA — Josh Sargent | WATCH
- 62’ — USA — Christian Pulisic (PK) | WATCH
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: Nations League Group A will come down to the US and Canada and goal differential could loom large so it was important for the USMNT to do one better than Canada’s 6-0 win over Cuba at BMO Field last month. Cuba, which has again been hit hard by defections, are now 0-3-0 with a -14 goal differential.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: It’s all about the start, and McKennie’s opening goal was the second fastest in USMNT history, setting the tone in a game that quickly got out of hand.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: McKennie gets the nod with the 18th hat trick in USMNT history and fastest from kickoff. He also assisted on Morris’ goal and played a sick backheel to the Seattle Sounders winger on Ramos’ own goal.
Next Up
- USA: Tuesday, October 15 at Canada (7:30 pm ET | ESPN2, UniMás, TUDN, www,Onesoccer.ca)
- CUB: Tuesday, November 19 vs. United States (7:30 pm ET | FS1, UniMás, TUDN)
