Jamaica vs. USA score: USMNT secure ugly victory on Pepi goal in Nations League quarterfinal first leg

Kyle Bonn

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Jamaica vs. USA score: USMNT secure ugly victory on Pepi goal in Nations League quarterfinal first leg image

Playing on a truly disastrous pitch in Kingston, the United States gutted out an ugly 1-0 victory over Jamaica to take a first-leg advantage back home in their CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal.

Ricardo Pepi’s early goal just five minutes in alongside Matt Turner’s penalty save made the difference in a physical battle that lacked quality from either side throughout most of the game.

In truth, Jamaica looked more likely to score for much of the match, as Shamar Nicholson proved dangerous with the Reggae Boyz playing over the top of the U.S. defense.

Yet while the visitors bent on the divot-laden field and amidst questionable refereeing, they were not breached.

MORE: USMNT schedule, results, highlights for 2024 calendar year

Jamaica’s best chance came when Nicholson put Tim Ream in a blender before drawing a foul by Turner in the penalty area, but his spot-kick was saved brilliantly by the U.S. goalkeeper who launched himself into the air to stop Demarai Gray’s effort.

The victory gave new U.S. head coach Mauricio Pochettino a winning start to competitive life in CONCACAF, and the match will have served as an eye-opener for the Argentine into what life on the road in this federation is like.

Now, the United States will take their one-goal advantage back with them to St. Louis, where they will contest the second leg in an attempt to secure an aggregate victory and advance to the semifinals, continuing the effort to defend their three straight CONCACAF Nations League titles.

The Sporting News followed the Jamaica vs. USA match live, providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happened.

Jamaica vs. USA final score

 ScoreGoal scorers
Jamaica0–
USA1Pepi (5')

Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT
Location: Independence Park (Kingston, Jamaica)
Referee: Juan Calderon (CRC)

Starting lineups:

Jamaica (5-4-1, right to left): 1. Blake (GK) — 4. A. Bell, 17. Lowe, 2. Lembikisa, 3. Holgate (red card, 86'), 22. Leigh (Hayden, 46') — 7. Bailey, 8. Palmer, 15. Latibeaudiere, 10. Gray (Cephas, 46') — 11. Nicholson (R. Williams, 77').

USA (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Turner (GK) — 22. Scally, 4. McKenzie, 13. Ream, 5. A. Robinson — 18. Tessmann (Trusty, 87'), 15. Cardoso (M. Tillman, 21') — 6. Musah (Zendejas, 87'), 8. McKennie (Busio, 71'), 10. Pulisic — 9. Pepi (Vazquez, 71').

Jamaica vs. USA live stats

JamaicaStatUSA
12Shots6
2Shots on target3
41%Possession59%
260Accurate passes417
3Corners1
13Fouls12
5 (1)Yellow cards (Red)2 (0)

Jamaica vs. USA live updates, highlights from Nations League first leg

FULLTIME: Jamaica 0-1 USA

It was FAR from pretty, but the U.S. will happily take the aggregate lead with them back home to St. Louis. Any win on the road in CONCACAF play, especially on horrible pitches such as this, should be commended.

Still, there are plenty of issues to address. They did not handle the long-ball over the top throughout the first half, their discipline could use some work, and certain players were played out of position to the detriment of the team. Yunus Musah did not have a good game out on the right wing, and Malik Tillman was poor played in a midfield pivot. Those two players would be at their best when swapped.

88th min: The U.S. makes two more changes as Auston Trusty and Alejandro Zendejas come on to replace Yunus Musah and Tanner Tessmann, the latter of whom has been fantastic.

Four minutes of added time are shown.

86th min: RED CARD, JAMAICA! Mason Holgate is sent off for a second yellow card after dragging Brandon Vazquez down by the shoulder with the U.S. striker trying to turn onto a vertical through ball! The referee has no choice but to issue the caution and send Holgate, an experienced Premier League player, to the showers.

Jamaica are down to 10 men, and Holgate will be suspended for the return leg in the United States. Jamaica are already playing without Ethan Pinnock in the squad tonight — why, we do not know, but they could be quite thin at center-back in St. Louis on Monday.

83rd min: Brandon Vazquez completely botches a two-on-one opportunity as he fails to hit either a shot on goal or a cross to Christian Pulisic at the far post, instead just freezing once he collects the ball. Pulisic is visibly upset at his teammate as the chance fizzles out.

A few moments later Vazquez does test the goalkeeper, but with a wide-open chance from the penalty spot, Andre Blake gets down to smother the weakly struck ball. Vazquez has to do better than that on both occasions, it's very poor from the substitute.

81st min: Gianluca Busio appears to be away on a counter-attack but is chopped down in midfield. Somehow, incredibly, the referee waves play-on even though Busio was off to the races and the incident appeared a clear foul. The referee has let a number of Jamaica challenges go tonight, while booking U.S. players for similar incidents.

76th min: Mason Holgate picks up a deserved yellow card for a cleat straight to the leg of Tanner Tessmann as he tries to poke the ball out of the air but only catches Tessman's flesh. It looks a painful one.

Romario Williams will enter in place of Shamar Nicholson for the final stages of this match as Jamaica are chasing a goal.

71st min: Mauricio Pochettino is going to make a pair of changes, as Brandon Vazquez replaces the goal scorer Ricardo Pepi up front, while the booked Weston McKennie is protected from further discipline as Gianluca Busio replaces him in midfield.

69th min: Handbags! Antonee Robinson is furious that Christian Pulisic is kicked on the touchline, as Jedi starts a scuffle that brings Jamaica head coach Steve McClaren onto the pitch. Robinson and Leon Bailey are both booked in the aftermath.

66th min: Chance, Jamaica! How did Jamaica not score there?!?!?!?!? As the hosts play a set-piece vertically down the right, the ball is crossed right onto the doorstep by Ronaldo Cephas and a streaking Shamar Nicholson is right there to tap it in, but Yunus Musah manages to slide in and block the chance right on the goal mouth! How did that happen???

Then Turner makes an incredible save as the ball is nearly curled into the net straight from the corner!

63rd min: Chance, Jamaica! A shot from Dexter Lembikisa is blocked heroically by Mark McKenzie, who stopped a clear chance in lots of space to shoot!

61st min: A yellow card is showed to Damion Lowe who catches Christian Pulisic after he releases the ball before stepping on Pulisic's hand after, which angers the U.S. star greatly. Then after the referee books Lowe, tempers flare further, with Weston McKennie in the middle of the fracas. He has got to be careful, knowing he's on a yellow card already.

59th min: Finally the USMNT has its first corner of the match, which Christian Pulisic takes. The initial delivery is cleared, as is Pulisic's ball back into the area.

56th min: The U.S. has looked a little better in the attacking third over the last few minutes but still can't quite pick out a good chance on goal. Jamaica go down the other end and Renaldo Ciphas attempts to loop a shot in on goal, but puts it wide and gets an earful from Shamar Nicholson who was free at the far post.

50th min: The game's first yellow card is shown to Weston McKennie for a full-fisted tug of Leon Bailey's shorts, yanking the Aston Villa man to the ground. It's a very needless foul that leaves a U.S. midfielder on a knife edge for most of the second half at a position that is already quite thin to where Mauricio Pochettino may have to leave him out there at risk of a second booking.

Moments later, Christian Pulisic has his arm yanked back on the ball in the attacking third, but the Jamaican defender is not shown a booking, which represents a clear double standard.

2nd half kickoff: They're back under way in Kingston, where the pitch is the biggest talking point as it stands.

There are no changes for the United States, but Steve McClaren makes a pair of his own as Renaldo Cephas and Isaac Hayden enter, the latter making his international debut. Demarai Gray and Gregory Leigh are the ones to exit, which looks to signal a change of formation to a back four.

HALFTIME: Jamaica 0-1 USA

Ricardo Pepi's early goal is the difference in this match, but in truth, it was a miserable first 45 minutes for the United States on the whole. The U.S. registered just one single shot after the 10th minute of the match, and struggled to string passes together to build forward into the attacking third.

The hosts were most dangerous on Route One long balls over the top, which caused some problems early. Matt Turner's penalty save on Demarai Gray was an enormous turn of events, as it cut down a massive chance for Jamaica to draw level and give themselves some leverage moving forward.

Improvement is needed from the USMNT if they wish to see out the final half with the lead intact, or add to the advantage and generate some breathing room.

43rd min: It looks virtually impossible to complete a pass on this field. U.S. players are continually mis-hitting the ball, which bobbles and bounces on the surface in a way that looks extremely difficult to predict. Truly a challenge for both teams, but especially the USMNT who will be used to playing on high-profile pitches at big European and U.S. clubs.

38th min: The referee has to calm tempers as Christian Pulisic topples a Jamaica player on the touchline trying to retrieve the ball for a throw-in. It doesn't amount to much in the end, but you can tell the U.S. is getting frustrated.

35th min: Matt Turner has to come out of his own penalty area to clear a long-ball forward for Shamar Nicholson, who appears to be fit enough to continue. The flag is up for offside, nullifying the chance regardless of how it played out.

29th min: There's yet another stoppage in the match as Shamar Nicholson is struggling with an injury. He looks extremely frustrated, and may have to come off. It appears to be something with his lower right leg he's having difficulty with. This could be a moment for Michail Antonio to enter if needed.

24th min: The United States have struggled to maintain its dominance from the first few minutes. Since the goal, Jamaica has been the better side, generating turnovers high up the pitch and charging forward on goal. The U.S. possession has been relatively poor in the last 15 minutes or so.

21st min: A disappointing moment for the United States as Johnny Cardoso has to come off injured, replaced by Malik Tillman. It looked like he pulled up with a muscle problem off the ball, which is worrying.

With this change, most likely Yunus Musah will move into midfield and Tillman will go out wide.

12th min: PENALTY, JAMAICA! Shamar Nicholson roasts the U.S. defense, chopping past Tim Ream beautifully before charging in on goal. Matt Turner comes out to smother the chance, but he topples Nicholson and gets no touch on the ball! The referee makes the call straight away.

Demarai Gray steps up to take the penalty, and...SAVED! WHAT A STOP BY MATT TURNER WHO GOES FLYING THROUGH THE AIR TO PARRY IT AWAY! WOW!

10th min: Chance, USA! Christian Pulisic tries a one-time shot from about 12 yards out, but he doesn't get the contact right and lashes it into the Kingston night sky. The ball came from the left flank as Antonee Robinson delivered the cutback.

7th min: Chance, USA! Antonee Robinson nearly bags a second for the U.S. inside the opening 10 minutes, but he's denied by Andre Blake! Jedi has acres of space to shoot cutting in from the left, but he gets the ball stuck at his feet just a moment too long, which allows the Jamaica goalkeeper to close the gap and make the save.

5th min: GOAL! USA! Ricardo Pepi scores with the very first USMNT attacking move forward! It's all too easy for the visitors as Christian Pulisic weaves through the Jamaica midfield and feeds a line-breaking vertical ball forward to El Tren. Pepi finishes with a perfectly placed right-footed effort across the face of goal and inside the far side netting!

2nd min: The pitch in Kingston looks, to put it bluntly, truly horrible. 45 seconds into the match and the ball pops way up over a massive divot in the U.S. half. Jamaica are pressing very high trying to catch the USMNT in possession before they can get used to how the ball rolls on this hideous field. It's going to be a challenge for the U.S. to avoid possessional mistakes.

Kickoff: They're under way in the Caribbean! Christian Pulisic picks up his 75th international cap, becoming the 33rd all-time player to reach that state with the U.S. national team, but just the second in the last decade after DeAndre Yedlin. A rare talent indeed.

Jamaica vs. USA: Pre-match commentary, analysis, more

15 mins to kickoff: The USMNT will wear their blue and red kits for the match in Kingston tonight, kickoff is shortly!

30 mins to kickoff: The U.S. national team has confirmed a couple more restrictions to the USMNT lineup. Brenden Aaronson did not travel to Jamaica after experiencing flu-like symptoms, and is hanging out in St. Louis to rejoin the squad for the second leg. Meanwhile, Aidan Morris picked up a knee strain and has been ruled out for both matches, leaving the midfield quite thin.

45 mins to kickoff: The biggest surprise in the Jamaica lineup is the absence of Brentford defender Ethan Pinnock, who does not appear in the squad at all, despite no available news of an injury at the moment. Leon Bailey starts for the first time since his exodus from the national team before the Copa America, brought back into the fold by new manager Steve McClaren.

1 hour to kickoff: Lineups are in! There's a few surprises from Mauricio Pochettino, who gives Ricardo Pepi the start up front in his first competitive match in charge of the United States. The biggest shock comes in midfield, where Tanner Tessman gets the start in the middle next to Johnny Cardoso.

Yunus Musah is deployed on the right wing, a position where he has struggled in his club career both at Valencia and AC Milan. Meanwhile, Chris Richards is not risked after just returning from injury, with Mark McKenzie and Tim Ream the ones deployed in defense.

1 hour 15 mins to kick: For some reason, Spanish tabloid Fichajes has reported that Christian Pulisic is plotting a move back to the Premier League where he would join West Ham either this winter or next summer.

This makes little season for a number of reasons, first and foremost why the Spanish press would know anything about an American player in Italy moving to an English club. Second, it doesn't make any sense why Pulisic, enjoying enormous success in his second season at Milan, would move to a Premier League side struggling for a mid-table position and miles off European qualification.

Don't believe everything you read.

1 hour 30 mins to kick: A really cool video was released yesterday, presumably from one of the USMNT friendlies last month, where U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner gives a pre-match pep talk to the starting lineup. In the huddle, Turner tells the team to "protect this f---ing guy out there" pointing to superstar Christian Pulisic. "They're gonna f---ing come for him," Turner says.

You wonder if Jamaica employ a similar strategy tonight of hacking the in-form Pulisic to keep him from influencing the match. The U.S. players will be ready, but also have to keep their heads about them, as disciplinary issues ended their Copa America early back in the summer.

1 hour 45 mins to kick: Antonee Robinson is one of the most in-form USMNT players at the moment, and this match will mean a lot to him personally. Jedi was born in the UK, and not only has U.S. roots thanks to his father's upbringing in New York, but also Jamaican background through his paternal grandfather.

He spoke to Turner about his ties to Jamaica ahead of this match, although in truth his adorable kids steal the show throughout the interview.

2 hours to kickoff: With Folarin Balogun and Josh Sargent both out injured, it's likely that Ricardo Pepi will get the start up front for the United States tonight. Pepi has good history against the Reggae Boyz, scoring a brace against Jamaica back in 2021 on just his second international cap.

Pepi is in good goal-scoring form for his club PSV, netting seven this season despite only holding a fringe role as a super sub, stuck behind regular starter Luuk de Jong. Yet he has scored in each of his three league starts thus far, with five goals in those three games, prompting a mention from transfer guru Fabrizio Romano on Tuesday who notes that he could be a January option for clubs needing a striker.

Jamaica vs. USA kickoff time

This CONCACAF Nations League first leg kicks off from Independence Park on Thursday, November 14 at 8 p.m. local time in Kingston, Jamaica.

Here's how that time translates across the time zones in North America:

 DateKickoff time
Eastern TimeThurs, Nov. 148 p.m.
Central TimeThurs, Nov. 147 p.m.
Mountain TimeThurs, Nov. 146 p.m.
Pacific TimeThurs, Nov. 145 p.m.

MORE: USA men's soccer schedule, results, highlights from 2024 calendar year

Jamaica vs. USA lineups, team news, starting 11

The big news for Jamaica is the return of Leon Bailey, who had been at odds with the federation and not been called in since being left off the Copa America roster. The Aston Villa man is back for this month's fixtures.

One Premier League player not appearing is experienced winger Bobby Decordova-Reid, who has failed to secure a starting spot in his first season with Leicester City. Michail Antonio remains a key figure up front for Jamaica despite just one goal and one assist for West Ham this season.

Jamaica confirmed XI (5-4-1, right to left): Blake (GK) — A. Bell, Lowe, Lembikisa, Holgate, Leigh — Bailey, Palmer, Latibeaudiere, Gray — Nicholson.

Jamaica subs (12): Waite (GK), S. Davis (GK), Bernard, Hayden, King, Anderson, Williams, Magee, Dixon, T. Gray, Cephas, Anglin.

Injured: None
Suspended: None

MORE: Betting preview for Jamaica vs. USA in CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal

The United States have a number of stars back in action but are still missing a few struggling with injuries.

Chris Richards has been out with a hamstring issue for the last month, missing the October international break, but he has returned to the roster here after being on the bench against Fulham on the weekend. Haji Wright appeared to roll his ankle badly in the 2-2 draw with Sunderland on Saturday and was left off the roster after being seen on crutches following the match. Folarin Balogun and Josh Sargent are both missing with injuries, leaving the attacking ranks thinned a bit. The latter is not expected back until next year following groin surgery.

Tyler Adams finally made his first start of the season for Bournemouth on Saturday, having missed the early portion of the campaign, but the USMNT coaching staff do not wish to risk an injury-prone player until he proves he can handle a full load of matches for club and country.

Sergino Dest continues to recover from his ACL tear just before the summer and isn't expected back until at least the start of 2025. Gio Reyna suffered a muscle injury in training during the September international break and has not yet returned for Borussia Dortmund.

Tim Weah is suspended for the first of these two matches as a result of his red card against Panama in the Copa America. He served the first of his two-game ban in the final group game against Uruguay, so he will be eligible to return for the second leg next week.

USA starting XI (4-2-3-1, right to left): Turner (GK) — Scally, McKenzie, Ream, A. Robinson — Tessman, Cardoso — Musah, McKennie, Pulisic — Pepi.

USA subs (11): Schulte (GK), Kochen (GK), Steffen (GK), Trusty, Richards, M. Robinson, Busio, M. Tillman, Cowell, Zendejas, Vazquez.

Injured: Dest (ACL), Balogun (shoulder), Wright (ankle), Sargent (groin), Reyna (groin), Adams (fitness), De la Torre (ankle).
Suspended: Weah (red card).

Jamaica vs. USA live stream, TV channel

  • Date: Thursday, November 14, 2024
  • Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT
  • TV channel (English): TNT, truTV
  • Streaming (English): Sling, Max

The first leg of the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal matchup between the United State and Jamaica will be televised in English on TNT and truTV. Both channels are available to stream on Sling, and will be streamed for subscribers on Turner's dedicated platform Max.

A Spanish-language broadcast is also available on Universo, which can be streamed on Fubo, who are offering a free trial for new users, as well as NBC's dedicated platform Peacock.

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Kyle Bonn

Kyle Bonn Photo

Kyle Bonn, is a Syracuse University broadcast journalism graduate with over a decade of experience covering soccer globally. Kyle specializes in soccer tactics and betting, with a degree in data analytics. Kyle also does TV broadcasts for Wake Forest soccer, and has had previous stops with NBC Soccer and IMG College. When not covering the game, he has long enjoyed loyalty to the New York Giants, Yankees, and Fulham. Kyle enjoys playing racquetball and video games when not watching or covering sports.