For the seventh time, the Concacaf Gold Cup made its way through the Metroplex this week with two double-headers at AT&T Stadium.
Wednesday night saw the customary Mexico appearance in Arlington. A Cesar Montes brace gave El Tri a comfortable win over Suriname after Costa Rica left it late to seal the Ticos’ spot in the quarter finals with a 2-1 win over the Dominican Republic.
Soccer in the United States is going through an attendance problem, and the Gold Cup has been no exception. Wednesday’s fixtures saw the competition’s second-highest attendance, with an announced 34,015. According to Abraham Nudelstejer at the Dallas Morning News, that’s Mexico’s second-lowest figure of any of their dozen-plus games at AT&T Stadium.
The host nation recorded gatherings of 12,610 and 11,727 in San Jose and Austin. The 20,918 fans on Sunday still only required two of the five tiers at the 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinal venue.
In the early fixture the USMNT got a hot start with Tyler Adams picking up a yellow card in the opening 30 seconds, crushing Duckens Nazon from behind.
Malik Tillman floated a far-post header past Johny Placide to give the Yanks a 10th minute lead. Matt Freese showed his charitable nature, gifting Haiti a 19th minute equalizer with a bad pass in the box to Don Louicius.
Half-time substitute Christopher Attys barely cleared the target with a header just 45 seconds into the second period.
Tillman appeared to restore the lead in the 64th minutes after a Haitian clearance smashed off the LAFC midfielder and in. Referee Katia Garcia waved off the goal for handball. The PSV Eindhoven midfielder again had the ball in the net four minutes later only to see the assistant’s flag raised.
Despite some strong counter-attacking play from Haiti, the US retook the lead in the 75th minute through Patrick Agyemang. The Charlotte FC striker ran on to a long ball from John Tolkin, sat the advancing goalkeeper, and finished from a tight angle to leave the Americans perfect through group play.
Both teams held some local interest. Chris Richards played the full 90 for the US, and came close to scoring with a potential tap-in that was barely out of reach of the FC Dallas academy graduate. Carl Sainte, on loan to Phoenix Rising from FC Dallas, only got on the field for a lap of honor with his compatriots.
The late game between the Dominican Republic and Suriname was simply for pride between two teams yet to record a point through two group A games.
The game was robbed of its two most notable players from the DR roster. Leeds’ Junior Firpo was absent through injury, while the status of former Real Madrid man, Mariano Diaz, is a mystery.
The Dominican Republic hit the crossbar twice, the post once, and saw a header cleared off the line in a stalemate where Suriname had the better of the play.
Boos echoed around the stadium from the remaining few hundred fans in the 29th minute as referee Ismael Cornejo was called to the monitor for a VAR review for a possible red card. Real Madrid Castilla center back, Edgar Pujol, saw a yellow card for a foul on Kenneth Paal upgraded to a red for denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
The opening hour was devoid of any good chances. The final thirty minutes livened up, but played out closer to a friendly between the two eliminated nations.
With the end of Dallas’ involvement in the 2025 Gold Cup, the next competitive soccer fixture at Jerry World will be a big one. Sunday, June 14 2026 sees the opening game for Group F, and the first of nine at ‘Dallas Stadium’ for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.