The United States men’s national team defeated Granada 7-1 on Friday night in what was their first competitive game since the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The victory sees the U.S. move within touching distance of qualification for the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals.
Christian Pulisic scored a goal and assisted four more while Weston McKennie and Ricardo Pepi both scored two of their own. Brenden Aaronson and Alejandro Zendejas also got on the scoresheet in what was a solid first game for interim head coach Anthony Hudson.
“A performance and a result like this can be — you don’t want to get carried away,” Hudson commented after the game. “The importance for us is just to make sure that we do all the right things between now and the next game and we finish the job off. But the actual performance, I thought it was the result of just a really, really good week.”
USA now sits atop the Group D standings in League A with seven points, while El Salvador and Granada trail with five points and one point respectively. The U.S. only has to avoid a loss to El Salvador in their last group game to qualify for the semifinals
