Mexico beats Panama on late Jimenez pen, wins first Nations League crown

Raúl Jiménez scored his second goal on a penalty kick in second-half stoppage time as Mexico beat Panama 2-1 Sunday night in Inglewood, California, to win the Concacaf Nations League tournament for the first time.

Jiménez, the 33-year-old Fulham striker, dominated the week at SoFi Stadium with all four of Mexico's goals in El Tri's two matches. He scored on a header in the eighth minute against Panama, and he cashed in on the penalty awarded when defender José Córdoba touched the ball with his inexplicably outstretched arm while chasing after it in the 90th minute.

Adalberto Carrasquilla scored on a penalty in first-half injury time for underdog Panama, which staged a dramatic 1-0 upset of the host United States on Thursday night to reach the final.

The championship match was briefly suspended with 10 minutes left in regulation after a large portion of the raucous crowd of 68,212 repeatedly shouted the anti-gay Spanish slur that is commonly used at Mexican matches, both foreign and domestic, despite several governing bodies' attempts to eradicate it.

The players took a water break while anti-slur messages appeared on the scoreboard and over the public address system. The rest of the game unfolded without further incident.

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Misbehavior aside, Mexico feels right at home in the Los Angeles Rams' palatial home -- or anywhere in Southern California, where El Tri invariably draws rowdy, adoring crowds. Mexico also won the 2023 Gold Cup at SoFi Stadium, beating Panama 1-0 on Santiago Giménez's late goal.

The U.S. had won the first three editions of the Concacaf Nations League tournament -- in 2021, 2023 and 2024 -- which brings together the nations of North America, Central America and the Caribbean. But with Jiménez in dominant form, Mexico stepped up to claim this trophy.

Jiménez played alongside Giménez in the Nations League semifinals and finals, with coach Javier Aguirre using an aggressive alignment to create offense. It worked splendidly thanks to Jiménez, who needed only a few minutes to get Mexico on top in the final.

After Roberto Alvarado put a long, beautiful cross into the box, Jiménez outmaneuvered a defender and bounced in a header that set off a raucous celebration.

Panama dominated possession and generated more shot attempts in the first half, and it finally paid off when video review determined center back Johan Vásquez committed a foul in the Mexico penalty area shortly before halftime. Carrasquilla barely got his shot above goalkeeper Luis Malagón's trailing legs to tie it.

Earlier Sunday, Canada beat the U.S. 2-1 in the third-place game, with Jonathan David scoring the winner early in the second half when he sent his shot from the center of the box to the bottom left corner.

Canada struck first with a goal by Tani Oluwaseyi, but the Americans responded shortly after on a goal from Patrick Agyemang.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this recap.