Weston McKennie named to CONCACAF Nations League Best XI

Weston McKennie has had a great season up to this point, and his fine form continued into the international break this past week. He earned another accolade, and also added another trophy to his name as the USMNT took down Jamaica and Mexico to claim their 3rd straight Nations League title.

McKennie was named to the CONCACAF Nations League Best XI. He played a major role in both the semifinal match vs Jamaica, and in the final against Mexico on Sunday. In the first game, the United States conceded an early goal less than a minute into the match, which gave Jamaica tons of hope.

The Americans were widely favored in this game, but this threw a major wrench in their game plan. After the early goal, Jamaica fell into a low block and tried to absorb as much pressure as the U.S. could possibly put on them.

The U.S. struggled to score over the course of the next 90 minutes, however, they were rescued in the 96th minute on an own goal by Jamaica from a United States corner kick. This made the match go into extra time, where the U.S. were able to pull away and win the match 3-1 thanks to 2 goals by Haji Wright. McKennie put in a very strong performance in this match. He played 120 minutes, created 4 chances, and completed 90 of his 101 passes (89%).

In the final vs Mexico, McKennie started the match again. The U.S. dominated most of the first half, and were able to go into halftime with a 1-0 lead thanks to a tremendous goal by Tyler Adams in which McKennie provided the assist for. Giovanni Reyna then scored in the 63rd minute to give the Americans a 2 goal cushion, and they never looked back.

McKennie played all 90 minutes, had a match-high 4 chances created, provided 1 assist, completed 25 of his 34 passes (74%), and won 7 duels as the USMNT cruised to a 2-0 win over their rivals.

This wasn't the first time Weston McKennie had performed well in the Nations League Finals for the United States. Back in 2021, McKennie was awared the Best Player Award after the USMNT won the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League title 3-2 over Mexico. McKennie will be back in action with Juventus this Saturday vs Lazio, where we can hope his fine form continues.