Panama stuns US 1-0 on Waterman's late goal, eliminating Americans from CONCACAF Nations League

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Cecilio Waterman scored a stunning goal in the fourth minute of second-half injury time, and Panama beat the three-time defending champion United States 1-0 on Thursday night to reach the CONCACAF Nations League final.

Waterman took a pass down the right side from Adalberto Carrasquilla in front of a packed-in U.S. defense and fired a perfect right-footed diagonal shot past Matt Turner into the far left corner. Waterman's 11th international goal, on Panama's only shot on target on the night, advanced the Panamanians to a final Sunday against Mexico.

“Many good things have happened to me in my career, but this one is different,” Waterman said. “This one was incredible.”

Waterman, a 33-year-old striker who plays professionally in Chile, ripped off his jersey and hurdled the advertising end boards before climbing up onto a broadcast stage to celebrate with Thierry Henry, who looked just as stunned as the rest of the crowd at SoFi Stadium.

“You are my idol!” Waterman repeatedly shouted in Spanish before hugging Henry, an Arsenal great.

Waterman took his own step toward idol status as Panama beat the U.S. for the third straight time in competitive matches, following wins in a 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal and the group stage of last year’s Copa America. Coach Thomas Christiansen's club has repeatedly exceeded expectations during his tenure, and this victory was only the latest remarkable achievement for Los Canaleros, who beat Costa Rica on the road last November in the Nations League quarterfinals.

“This is the third time we have been in this position,” Waterman said. “This time, we want to give that gift to Panama. We want to achieve something for them, for Central America.”

The loss at a half-empty SoFi Stadium was a big stumble for U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino, who replaced Gregg Berhalter six months ago after the Americans’ first-round exit at the Copa America.

After Sunday’s third-place match against Canada, Pochettino will have his full player pool for just five training camps before the team gathers ahead of the World Cup.

“I'm very disappointed, because I don't think the way we approached the game was the right way,” Pochettino said. “The first half, I think we played too slow. We didn't show aggression with the ball, and the consequence not to show aggression with the ball, we also didn't show aggression in a defensive way.”

The Americans, without outside backs Sergiño Dest and Antonee Robinson because of injuries, nearly tied it in the eighth minute of injury time but Tyler Adams missed the net on a clean shot from just outside the penalty area off a cross from Christian Pulisic. Adams returned to the national team for the first time since the Copa America after recovering from back surgery.

Panama earned one of the biggest wins in its soccer history at the same stadium where Los Canaleros lost the 2023 Gold Cup final to Mexico on a late goal by Santi Giménez. Three days before that match, Panama also upset the U.S. 5-4 on penalty kicks in a semifinal.

“I think the guys played a great match,” Christiansen said. “The only way to beat the U.S. is with tactical discipline and order, and then a little luck. That has to be with you, and it was with us this time.”

For the first time, the CONCACAF Nations League trophy won't stay in the U.S. The Americans won the first three editions of this tournament, which only began in 2019.

The Americans had the best chances in the first half, but came up empty.

Josh Sargent put a shot off a post in the 19th minute, and Weston McKennie's header moments later went straight to the keeper. Sargent then scored in the 24th minute, but the U.S. was ruled offside in the buildup several seconds earlier.

Sargent hasn't scored for the U.S. in 5 1/2 years.

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United States' Timothy Ream, left, controls the ball away from Panama's Cecilio Waterman Ruiz during the second half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

United States' head coach Mauricio Pochettino reacts during the second half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match against Panama, Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Panama's Cecilio Waterman Ruiz, right, celebrates next to Panama's Cristian Martinez after scoring against the United States during the second half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Panama's Cecilio Waterman Ruiz takes former French footballer Thierry Henry in his arm after he jumped on the nearby TV set after scoring against the United States during the second half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Panama's Cecilio Waterman Ruiz celebrates after scoring against the United States during the second half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Panama's Cecilio Waterman Ruiz scores against the United States during the second half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Panama's Cecilio Waterman Ruiz celebrates after he scored against the United States during the second half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Panama's Cecilio Waterman Ruiz, left, celebrates with Panama's Anibal Godoy Lemus after he scored against the United States during the second half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

United States' Weston Mc Kennie, second from right, vies for the ball against Panama's Jose Cordoba Chambers (3) during the first half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

United States' Joshua Sargent (9) reacts after a missed opportunity to score during the first half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match against Panama, Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Panama's Adalberto Carrasquilla Alcazar, left, dribbles past United States' Weston Mc Kennie (8) during the first half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

United States' Yunus Musah, left, vies for the ball against Panama's Jorge Gutierrez Cornejo (15) during the first half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

Panama's Jose Rodriguez Francis, left, vies for the ball against United States' Christian Pulisic (10) during the first half of a CONCACAF Nations League semifinal soccer match Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)

PRAIA, Cape Verde (AP) — Three patients with suspected hantavirus infections were being evacuated from a cruise ship to the Netherlands on Wednesday, the U.N. health agency said, as the vessel at the center of a deadly outbreak remained off Cape Verde with nearly 150 people on board waiting to head to Spain’s Canary Islands.

Associated Press footage showed health workers in protective gear heading to the ship for the evacuation that included the ship's British doctor, who Spain's health ministry said had been in “serious condition” but has improved. An air ambulance later departed.

Three people have died, and one body remained on the ship, the World Health Organization said. Eight cases have been recorded in all, three of them confirmed by laboratory testing. Hantavirus usually spreads by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings and can spread person-to-person, though the WHO calls that rare.

Contact tracing had begun on two continents, Europe and Africa, in search of infections around people who earlier left the ship, which departed over a month ago from South America for stops in Antarctica and several remote Atlantic islands.

Two Argentine officials investigating the origins of the outbreak said the government's leading hypothesis is that a Dutch couple contracted the virus while bird-watching in the city of Ushuaia before boarding.

They said the couple visited a landfill during the tour and may have been exposed to rodents. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, with the investigation ongoing. Authorities previously said Ushuaia and surrounding Tierra del Fuego province had never recorded a hantavirus case.

The Dutch foreign ministry said the three people evacuated were a 41-year-old Dutch national, a 56-year-old British national and a 65-year-old German national who would be "immediately transferred to specialized hospitals in Europe.” A Dutch hospital confirmed it would take one. German authorities were preparing for a second.

Two remain in "serious condition," Dutch ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions said, and the third had no symptoms but was “closely associated” with a German passenger who died on the MV Hondius ship on May 2.

Health officials said passengers and crew members still on the ship are without symptoms; the WHO said passengers represent 23 nationalities. Their journey to the Canary Islands will take three or four days, Spain’s health ministry said, adding that the arrival “won´t represent any risk for the public."

Meanwhile, authorities said testing in Switzerland, South Africa and Senegal had shown positive for the Andes strain of the virus. The WHO says the species of hantavirus is found in South America, primarily in Argentina and Chile, and can spread between people, though that’s rare and only through close contact.

The World Health Organization’s top epidemic expert told The Associated Press the risk to the public is low, and the Andes variant is known even if WHO has never seen a hantavirus outbreak on a ship.

“This is not the next Covid, but it is a serious infectious disease,” Maria Van Kerkhove said. “Most people will never be exposed to this.”

For those on the ship, access to clinical care is important, she said, because infected people can develop severe acute respiratory distress and need oxygen or mechanical ventilation. The hantavirus incubation period can be one to six weeks, or more, she said.

The ship left Argentina on April 1. The WHO has said the itinerary included stops across the South Atlantic, including mainland Antarctica and the remote islands of South Georgia, Nightingale Island, Tristan da Cunha, St. Helena and Ascension.

The ship is now in the Atlantic off West Africa's island nation of Cape Verde. The WHO said passengers were isolating in their cabins.

Two Dutch infectious diseases experts were joining the ship, Van Kerkhove said.

Spain’s health ministry said it would receive the ship in the Canary Islands after a request from the WHO and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. The Canary Islands regional president , Fernando Clavijo, said he worried about the risk to the population and demanded a meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Authorities in Switzerland said a former passenger was being treated at a Zurich hospital after testing positive for the Andes strain. South African authorities earlier said two passengers who were transferred there tested positive for the strain. One, a British man, was in intensive care and the other collapsed and died in South Africa.

Swiss health office spokesperson Simon Ming said the patient there had left the ship during its St. Helena stop. It was not clear when or how he traveled to Switzerland.

The patient’s wife hasn’t shown symptoms but is self-isolating as a precaution, a statement by the office said.

“There is currently no risk to the Swiss public," the office said, while looking into whether the patient had come into contact with others.

At St. Helena, the body of the Dutch man suspected to be the first hantavirus case on board was taken off the ship. His wife flew to South Africa, where she collapsed at the Johannesburg airport and died.

Later, a British man was evacuated at Ascension Island and taken to South Africa.

The ship's operator has not said if other people left at those or other locations.

The South African health ministry says officials have traced 42 out of 62 people, including health workers, they believe had contact with the two infected passengers who traveled there. The 42 tested negative for hantavirus.

But 20 people still need to be traced, including five people who may have been on flights to South Africa with some of the passengers as well as flight crew members.

Some may have now traveled overseas, the ministry said.

DeBre reported from Buenos Aires and Keaten from Geneva. Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria. Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa; Mark Banchereau in Dakar, Senegal; Renata Brito and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona; Geir Moulson in Berlin; Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands and Michelle Gumede and Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg contributed to this report.

This version corrects to say the evacuated doctor is British.

An air ambulance takes off with evacuated patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship from the airport in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

An air ambulance takes off with evacuated patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship from the airport in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

The MV Hondius cruise ship is anchored at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship into an ambulance at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Health workers in protective gear arrive to evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

A night view of the MV Hondius cruise ship anchored at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

An aerial view of the MV Hondius Dutch cruise ship anchored in the Atlantic off Cape Verde, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Arilson Almeida)

An aerial view of the MV Hondius Dutch cruise ship anchored in the Atlantic off Cape Verde, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Arilson Almeida)