Edson Álvarez and the Mexico national team moved one step closer towards successfully defending their CONCACAF Gold Cup crown after earning a spot in the 2025 final with a 1-0 semi-final victory over Honduras in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Off the back of topping Group A earlier in the tournament, with two wins and a draw, and a convincing 2-0 win over Saudi Arabia in the quarter-finals, El Tri went into their last four clash at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, full of confidence.
Against a side they had last come up against en route to CONCACAF Nations League success in November 2024, at the quarter-final stage of that competition, Mexico were forced to be patient in a first half that saw Johan Vásquez and Marcel Ruiz force saves close to the break.
Fulham forward Raúl Jiménez eventually notched the decisive strike five minutes after half-time, latching on to teenager Gilberto Mora's neat pass before finishing coolly, and Álvarez himself - who captained his team and completed the full 90 minutes - looked to have added a second moments later only for his close-range tap-in to be ruled out by VAR for offside.
Ultimately, there were to be no further changes to the scoreline, sealing nine-time champions Mexico's spot in a 12th Gold Cup final against their old rivals the USA, with kick-off scheduled for 12am BST on Monday 7 July in Houston, Texas.
