Nathan Silva's miss sends Columbus Crew past Pumas UNAM 1-1 in Leagues Cup 2026

It was an end-to-end affair, with both teams pushing for a winning goal; however, the match remained tied at 1-1, meaning the outcome—specifically which team secured an extra point—would be decided by a penalty shootout.

Things went from bad to worse for the university side; following a chaotic scramble in Navas's penalty area, Álvaro Angulo received treatment on the pitch, clearly in significant pain—it looked like he would be stretchered off. Both Angulo and Antuna left the field, replaced by Ángel Azuaje and Alan Medina. After the regulation 90 minutes had elapsed, the referee decided to add another 9 minutes to this action-packed match.

The closing stages of the match were fiercely contested; the Columbus side kept pressing in the area guarded by Keylor Navas. There was a brief scuffle after a home player appealed for a penalty, though nothing ultimately came of it.

Following the sending-off, Pumas reshuffled and made another substitution for the closing stages of the match, with less than 10 minutes of regulation time remaining. Guillermo Martínez entered the pitch looking to create chances in attack and add fresh legs, while Robert Morales left the game.

Two more substitutions for the Columbus side. Gbamble and Giacone were the players entering the pitch for this intriguing conclusion to the match, taking the places of André Gómes and Steven Moreira. What a moment.

Play had just resumed; the Mexican team failed in its bid to have the incident reviewed by VAR, and they were left playing with 10 men. Now it remained to be seen how Solari's team would reorganize and whether they would manage to break the deadlock or end up losing the match.

The situation got quite heated; Luciano Herrera refused to leave the pitch and stalled, waiting for VAR to contact the referee to review the questionable play. Solari and his staff—and the University squad in general—were also signaling for a review.

Things went from bad to worse for Pumas! The referee showed a red card to Luciano Herrera following an alleged assault on Zawadzki right on the edge of the home team's six-yard box. What a difficult moment: just as the university side was starting to build promising plays again, they ended up losing a key attacking player.

They wanted more! Columbus was creating dangerous plays, looking for a way to break the deadlock in this fast-paced, tight match. What a great sliding tackle by Víctor Arteaga to prevent the home team from unleashing a powerful shot on goal and adding a second.

It was a hard-fought match; neither Columbus nor Pumas had managed to capitalize on promising attacking moments in the opposition's half. They needed to find a way to string more passes together and turn their positive play into concrete results.

Pumas continued to look for ways to create good moments in dangerous areas, while the home defense remained well positioned in their penalty area. Godoy and company had not suffered any further damage since the goal that tied the game.

Pumas kept trying to create dangerous opportunities, while the home defense remained solid in the six-yard box. Godoy and his teammates had not faced any further threats since the equalizer. What a game.

Pumas faced trouble in their own box—a situation Rudy Camacho was trying to capitalize on to break the deadlock—but he ended up colliding with Angulo and Navas; the play was ultimately disallowed, and the Columbus player was shown a yellow card.

Close! Pumas put together a great play, threatening the box as they sought the finish that would give them their second goal of the match; however, goalkeeper Godoy did well to narrow the angle and prevent Luciano Herrera's powerful shot from finding the net.

Columbus orchestrated a strong spell of play; however, whenever the ball threatened the area guarded by Keylor Navas, the defense managed to clear it, preventing a second goal in the match. What a moment.

The second half of this match started quite lively at 50', and after the goal scored by Ángulo, the university team had not stopped generating good moments and looking for a way to break the tie in this important clash.

The first half was coming to an end, with Columbus causing the most damage in the danger zone. We would see how this first half ended—we were in for an intriguing finish packed with exciting moments. What a moment.

Great play! Nathan Silva pulled off a fantastic header; the center-back managed to deflect the ball, preventing the home side from getting a powerful shot off and scoring their second goal of the match. It was a hard-fought contest.

Antuna continued to look for a way to reach the goal guarded by Godoy with risk; however, when he arrived with the ball under control, he ended up committing a foul and was left without any further opportunity.

The university side had managed to create little to nothing; it was Columbus that maintained possession of the ball. Despite attempts by Carrasquilla and Vite, the ball failed to cause any further damage.

Hagen had had little to do in this match; there had been plenty of action in the danger zone near Navas, yet the home goalkeeper remained calm in his area. It was a fiercely contested match all over the pitch.

Pumas started to string passes together, looking to level the score; however, Columbus was well-organized defensively and managed to cleanly dispossess Juninho. It was a hard-fought contest. What a great game.

Unbelievable! Uriel Antuna made a dangerous run, looking for the match's second goal—which would have leveled the score for Pumas—but his shot went wide across the face of the goal; the referee subsequently disallowed the play for offside.

The match was end-to-end; although Columbus had the ball for more time on the field, the Mexican team tried at all costs to keep the ball away and prevent the second goal of the match. What a moment.

This was the lineup the university side fielded; the Mexican team aimed to finish the tournament on a high note, despite being virtually eliminated from the next round.

1 Keylor Navas.

24 Tony Leone.

6 Nathan Silva.

34 Angel Azuaje.

77 Álvaro Angulo.

8 Adalberto Carrasquilla.

45 Pedro Vite.

18 Víctor Arteaga.

7 Rodrigo López.

23 Juninho.

14 Luciano Herrera

This was the lineup the US team used as they sought another three points to secure a strong qualification for the next round.

28 Patrick Schulte.

31 Steven Moreira.

4 Rudy Camacho.

12 Cesar Ruvalcaba.

23 Mohamed Farsi.

50 Tarun Karumanchi.

20 Andre Gomes.

18 Malte Amundsen.

8 Daniel Gazdag.

16 Taha Habroune.

10 Brais Méndez

Adalberto Carrasquilla was the player to watch for the blue-and-gold squad; the midfielder orchestrated play for the university team and looked to create exciting moments for the fans and contribute goals to the scoreboard. They absolutely needed to secure the three points.

Brais Méndez was the attacker the university side needed to watch closely; he entered this match after delivering strong performances and demonstrating effective ball distribution. He aimed to find the back of the net and lead his team to victory.

There was just under half an hour left until this important clash began, with Pumas visiting Columbus. We were in for an exciting 90 minutes as both squads looked to create attacking threats and generate dangerous scoring opportunities.

Pumas arrived at this match with some uncertainty regarding their squad: Mexican player Sebastián Córdoba had to leave the previous game after coming on as a substitute. He experienced knee inflammation, though definitive medical tests to clarify his status were still pending.

These teams had never faced each other before; however, the "Universitario" squad—led by Solari—was expected to create its own dangerous moments and avoid another defeat in this challenging tournament. A thrilling 90 minutes awaited.

Columbus arrived at this match with no injury-related absences, so they aimed to create scoring chances and execute interesting plays with a full squad for this final match of the phase. Some very interesting moments lay ahead.