Entering this Gold Cup having lost four consecutive matches for the first time in nearly two decades, the USMNT reeled off five straight wins to reach Sunday’s final. More importantly, they showed resilience, character and pride — qualities that have been missing all too often since the 2022 World Cup.

There were plenty of difficult lessons for the USMNT in the Gold Cup final loss to Mexico on Sunday. How Mauricio Pochettino & Co. respond will be telling.

This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Check your automated systems today. The U.S. men’s national soccer team lost to Mexico last night,

Tickets for the clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid in the other semifinal are still commanding an enormous fee. As of Sunday afternoon, the cheapest available tickets are $195.15 (£142.91), but it’s possible that prices drop before the match kicks off on July 9.

Despite the reduced intensity of play in New Jersey's scorching heat, Real comfortably saw out the match, leaving Dortmund unable to mount a comeback until the game exploded into life in 10 minutes of mayhem in added time.

Bayern Munich midfielder Jamal Musiala badly injured his left leg and was forced to leave his team’s match against Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup quarterfinals

Désiré Doué scored in the 78th minute to send Paris Saint-Germain a step closer to another trophy with a 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Club World Cup

Paris Saint-Germain have beaten Bayern Munich 2-0 in an incident-filled quarter-final at the Club World Cup that saw Jamal Musiala suffer a horrific injury. Musiala was taken off the pitch on a stretcher after suffering a severe ankle injury in a collision with Gianluigi Donnarumma at the end of the first half.