Justin Ellis Strikes as USA Beat Canada 1-0 to Finish Perfect Four-Match Window

The United States beat Canada 1-0 at Allianz Field in St Paul on Tuesday, October 6. The win gave Mauricio Pochettino's side four wins from four in this international window, the first four games of his post-World Cup reset.

Justin Ellis scored the only goal in the 29th minute. Alex Freeman delivered the cross after a give-and-go with Malik Tillman, and the 19-year-old Orlando City winger tapped it in. It was Ellis's second goal in three appearances for the national team. He had also scored four minutes into his debut against Peru earlier in the window.

It was a physical, scrappy game. The US sat deep early on and absorbed a lot of fouls from a motivated Canada side under Jesse Marsch. Canada had more efforts on goal, and Luc De Fougerolles saw an angled volley hit the crossbar late on, but the US held on. Ellis was replaced at half-time by fellow teenager Julian Hall, who later fired into the side-netting when played through. It was a second straight clean sheet for the US.

The US finished the window with wins over Peru (4-1), Chile (4-2), Mexico (3-0) and Canada. Across the four games, seven of the US's 12 goals were scored by teenagers, and Pochettino handed debuts to 13 new players after the team's last-16 exit at the home World Cup. Cavan Sullivan also became the youngest goalscorer in USMNT history against Mexico on Saturday.

This was the first meeting between the two sides since Canada's 2-1 win in the Concacaf Nations League third-place match in March 2025. Both teams reached the round of 16 at this summer's World Cup, and the US remain unbeaten at Allianz Field.