LIVE Q&A ANALYSIS + HIGHLIGHTS: CanMNT's Concacaf Nations League dream falls short in semi-final vs. Mexico

The Canadian men's national team's dream of lifting a trophy in Los Angeles fell short on Thursday night, as Mexico defeated them 2-0 in the Concacaf Nations League semi-final at SoFi Stadium.

In a scrappy match in which Canada were ultimately unable to establish their attacking rhythm or counter-attacking system, Mexico did what they've often done so well and frustrated Canada en route to a well-earned victory. El Tri thus earned their spot in Sunday's final against Panama. Canada, meanwhile, move to the third-place match where they'll do battle with the United States in a matchup they wanted, albeit not on the dampened stage of a bronze medal game.

The game started in nightmare fashion for the Canadians, who got pinned inside their own half within the first minute and quickly coughed the ball up. Though an attempted shot from Roberto Alvarado found the leg of a Canadian defender, Fulham FC forward Raúl Jiménez pounced on the loose ball and finished coolly over the left leg of Dayne St. Clair as Mexico took an early lead.

Within the first 10 minutes, Canada found themselves shaken further, as Derek Cornelius took the brunt of a challenge in the penalty area but the VAR did not send the referee to the video screen. 

The first half thus became a fairly torturous one for Canada. With shades of the 0-0 friendly draw back in September, it was disjointed and physical, with the Mexicans intent on fighting for every inch of turf -- including on set-pieces and after the whistle. The referee doled out cards liberally, and at around the half-hour mark three of Canada's four defenders had been cautioned.

Off-ball confrontations and antics were part of the Mexican game plan to disrupt Canada, and El Tri were successful in limiting Canada's dangerous moments.

Canada found moments to penetrate into the Mexican half, but on those occasions their foes typically became quite compact. That meant Canada could occasionally find spaces behind Mexico's wing-backs, particularly on the left where Jonathan Osorio often looked for Alphonso Davies running behind. Once they got to the edges of the box, however, Canada struggled to play a final ball toward the middle to turn speculative chances into dangerous ones.

Davies challenged Luis Malagón with a direct free kick that was arguably Canada's best chance of the first half, and both Jonathan David and Cyle Larin had an opportunity to shoot but neither could hit the target. At the other end, Edson Álvarez appeared to have buried Canada with a second goal shortly before halftime, getting his head on a well-delivered wide free kick, but the Canadians were saved by the linesman's flag as the Mexican midfielder was a few inches offside. Instead, they went into halftime down 1-0 and in need of just one to equalize.

Coming out of the interval, it was Canada who were clear aggressors, taking full control of the ball with 75 per cent possession in the first 15 minutes of the half. Their set-pieces became more dangerous as Ali Ahmed's deliveries found Canadian heads more readily, although they still couldn't turn many of them goalward.

Jesse Marsch thus turned to his bench in an effort to inject new pace to his side. He brought Jacob Shaffelburg in around the hour mark, followed shortly by both Mathieu Choinière and Tajon Buchanan -- all three of which being players who might otherwise have started this match, if not of a lack of playing time at club level due to recent injuries.

The final 30 minutes remained intense, with Mexico marking Canada tightly, especially along the touchlines, preventing the Canadian wide players from opening up the game with their pace. With the Mexican press forcing Canada to play at a rapid tempo, they struggled to keep the ball, finding passes picked off or balls stolen from them via crunching body contact.

The crushing blow came with just 15 minutes left to play. Mexico broke in transition and Canada scrambled to reassemble in their box, and in the midst of a somewhat broken play Stephen Eustáquio took down Santiago Giménez at the top of the area -- although he appeared to have made contact with the ball first -- and the referee awarded a free kick.

Stepping up to take the set-piece was Raúl Jiménez, who lifted a perfect ball over Canada's wall and in at the right post, doubling the Mexican lead late.

The steam thus taken out of their comeback attempt, Canada were unable to threaten much again after that. Although Jesse Marsch put some more fresh legs up front in Tani Oluwaseyi and Daniel Jebbison (the latter making his Canada debut), it was a lacklustre final 10 minutes en route to a thoroughly disappointing loss.

With the shine now taken off their Nations League campaign with no trophy on the table anymore, Canada will now be tasked with finding motivation for Sunday's unexpected third-place clash with the United States. Certainly, the Canadians were hoping for a crack at their American neighbours, but nobody will have expected that to be in anything other than the final.

Box Score

Lineups

Canada: St. Clair; Johnston, Bombito, Cornelius, Davies; Ahmed (Buchanan 67'), Eustáquio (Jebbison 80'), Koné (Choinière 67'), Osorio (Shaffelburg 60'); David, Larin (Oluwaseyi 80')

Mexico: Malagón; Alvarado, Reyes, Lira (Chávez 90'), Vásquez, Gallardo; Rodríguez (Romo 54'), Ed. Álvarez, Vega (Huerta 54'); Giménez (Quiñones 80'), Jiménez

Goals

1' -- Raúl Jiménez (Mexico)
75' -- Raúl Jiménez (Mexico)

Discipline

18' -- Yellow: Moïse Bombito (Canada)
22' -- Yellow: Alphonso Davies (Canada)
27' -- Yellow: Alexis Vega (Mexico)
33' -- Yellow: Alistair Johnston (Canada)
43' -- Yellow: Johan Vásquez (Mexico)
71' -- Yellow: Israel Reyes (Mexico)

Player of the Match

Raúl Jiménez, Mexico

The veteran striker punished Canada lethally for their mistakes, scoring at the very beginning to set the tone and again near the end to evaporate hope. He also won nine duels and three fouls, in an outstanding all-around night for the Fulham forward.

What’s Next?

Canada will take on the United States at SoFi Stadium this Sunday, March 23 in the third place match (6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT). Mexico, meanwhile, play Panama in the Concacaf Nations League final later that same evening (9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT). Both matches will be available to watch on OneSoccer and TSN.