On June 30, the quarterfinals of the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup were full of ups and downs. The United States team defeated Costa Rica 6-5 on aggregate thanks to goalkeeper Freese's heroic performance in the penalty shootout, and successfully advanced to the semifinals. In another match, Canada lost to Guatemala, which was ranked much lower than itself in the world, in a penalty shootout and missed the semifinals.

As the host country, the United States did not have a smooth start in this game. In the 12th minute, Costa Rican striker Calvo seized the opportunity to take a penalty kick and scored, giving the team an early lead. The United States also got a penalty kick in the 37th minute, but Tillman's penalty unfortunately hit the post, missing the chance to equalize.

However, in the 43rd minute, Diego Luna of the United States hit the opponent's player and deflected into the net, helping the home team to equalize the score before the end of the first half. Just two minutes into the second half, Alfsten shot and scored, and the United States took the lead. However, Costa Rica did not surrender. In the 71st minute, Martinez received a teammate's inverted triangle pass and completed a shovel shot, and the score returned to 2-2 again .

After the penalty shootout, the protagonist belonged to the American goalkeeper Freese. He successfully saved three times, especially in the crucial fifth penalty , after successfully blocking Calvo's shot, which won the victory for the United States. Although Tolkien failed to score the key penalty, Dawes finally scored the winning penalty. The United States won the penalty shootout 4-3 and advanced to the semi - finals with a total score of 6-5 .

On the other hand, Canada was upset. When facing Guatemala, which is ranked 106th in the world , although Jonathan David scored in the 30th minute, they suffered a major blow at the end of the first half - Schaefer received two yellow cards in five minutes and was sent off. The Maple Leafs could only play with 10 players in the second half.

Guatemala, who had one more player, equalized the score in the 69th minute when Rubin seized the opportunity. At the end of the match, the two teams were tied 1-1 and had to go to a penalty shootout to decide the winner.

In the penalty shootout, both teams missed a goal in the first five rounds, but both teams scored again in the sixth round. At the critical moment, Canadian player De Fogerol's shot hit the crossbar, but Guatemala's Jose Morales withstood the pressure and scored the winning goal. In the end, Guatemala defeated Canada with a total score of 6-5 and returned to the semi - finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup after 29 years.