McKennie Quick Hat-Trick

On This Day in 2019, McKennie Scored the Fastest Hat-Trick in U.S. History as the Team Dismantled Cuba

The inaugural CONCACAF Nations League represented something new for the United States Men's National Team: a structured regional tournament designed to provide meaningful matches for teams across North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Created to replace friendly matches and provide smaller nations with regular competitive fixtures, the competition offered a fresh context for international play—and an immediate opportunity for manager Gregg Berhalter's team to set the tone.

On October 11, 2019, at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., the Americans faced Cuba in their opening match, a contest that seemed destined to be a formality. The U.S. held a commanding historical advantage over the Caribbean nation, with an 11-match winning streak spanning 70 years. Yet Berhalter had emphasized the importance of establishing early dominance and building momentum heading into more challenging Nations League fixtures.

The Americans wasted no time demonstrating their superiority. Just 30 seconds into the match, midfielder Weston McKennie fired home the second-fastest goal in U.S. history (at the time) after receiving an assist from Jordan Morris. The lightning-quick breakthrough set the tone for what would become an extraordinary first half.

Four minutes later, McKennie struck again, tapping in from close range after another Morris assist. The pattern repeated itself in the ninth minute, with Morris this time converting a McKennie pass into a clinical finish from the left side of the penalty area. By the 13th minute, McKennie had completed his hat trick—arriving at the back post to finish a Reggie Cannon cross—all within the opening quarter hour.

The speed of this assault on Cuba's goal was historically significant. The U.S. had never reached a four-goal advantage faster, shattering the previous mark of 33 minutes set against the Cayman Islands in 1993. McKennie's hat-trick from the opening whistle was the quickest in team history, surpassing Brian McBride's 2002 performance when he scored three by the 21st minute.

Jordan Morris, orchestrating much of the early chaos, continued his dominant display in the 39th minute. His shot ricocheted off Cuba goalkeeper Nelson Johnston and then off a recovering defender, finding the back of the net for an own-goal sequence that made it 5-0. Minutes later, Josh Sargent finished a rapid counter-attack to extend the lead to 6-0 at halftime. The first half yielded a historic milestone: six goals, the most the modern-era U.S. team had scored before the break.

Morris's three assists on the night tied the national record, matching achievements by Cobi Jones and Landon Donovan, who did it twice. His influence on the match was undeniable, and Berhalter acknowledged the performance with measured praise. "We're still trying to figure out" the full range of Pulisic's abilities, Berhalter said after the match, while noting McKennie's exceptional penalty-box movement. "When you have a midfielder that can score goals and arrive in the penalty box like that, it makes you dynamic."

Berhalter made tactical adjustments at halftime, replacing both McKennie and Morris with Paul Arriola and Tyler Boyd as the U.S. shifted focus from scoring at will to maintaining shape and managing the match. The substitutions were partly strategic and partly precautionary, preserving key players for the grueling stretch ahead. Captain Christian Pulisic, who had earned his third armband under Berhalter, added a seventh goal from the penalty spot in the 62nd minute after a Cuba defender's handball infringement. It was Pulisic's first penalty-kick goal as a national team player and capped his evening before he too was withdrawn.

The remainder of the match unfolded as expected—a measured U.S. performance against an opposition thoroughly overwhelmed. Cuba's goalkeeper Johnston made several decent saves in the second half, including a leaping one-handed stop on a Cristian Roldan drive, but the contest had long since been decided.

When the final whistle sounded, the scoreboard read 7-0, the second-largest margin of victory in U.S. men's soccer history. Only the 8-0 demolition of Barbados in 2008 stood ahead of this performance. Brad Guzan recorded his 19th clean sheet in his 62nd appearance, a fitting punctuation mark on a dominant display.

Despite the lopsided scoreline, Berhalter seemed to view the result as both a confidence builder and a cautionary tale. The young squad had accomplished what was expected against overmatched competition, but the manager recognized that Nations League play came with a price. The tournament meant sacrificing the high-profile friendlies against European and South American powers that typically prepared elite teams for serious competition. Former U.S. coach Jürgen Klinsmann had called the structure "a waste of time," arguing that victories over lesser regional opponents wouldn't develop players as much as friendlies against world-class teams would.

Berhalter's perspective was more pragmatic. "If I could have written the game up, it would have been exactly like this," he said of the performance. "Score early, score many goals early, and then cruise. I think we saved ourselves. I think we'll be fit and ready to go against Canada."

That confidence would be tested immediately. Four days later, the Americans traveled to Toronto to face Canada at BMO Field in their second Nations League group match. Canada, ranked 75th in the world compared to the U.S.'s 21st, had already played two matches and was atop Group A after victories over Cuba.

What transpired at BMO Field shattered any illusions generated by the Cuba performance. In a match that exposed the fragility of Berhalter's young squad, Canada registered a shocking 2-0 victory—the first time the northern neighbors had defeated the Americans in 34 years and the end of a 17-match unbeaten streak between the nations.

Alphonso Davies, the 18-year-old Bayern Munich prospect, opened the scoring in the 63rd minute after poor U.S. defending allowed the ball to be played across the goalmouth following a Michael Bradley turnover. Lucas Cavallini added a second in stoppage time to seal an upset that stunned the American program.

Berhalter's post-match assessment was brutally honest. "The first thing that stands out to me is desire, the desire of Canada," he said. "Give them credit, but having said that, the minimum we expect is to match that. We need to compete on every single play in games like that."

Christian Pulisic, who had worn the captain's armband against Cuba, acknowledged the emotional swing. "We didn't have the same energy that they did," the 21-year-old said. "That's very disappointing. That's the one thing that we can control, and we weren't able to tonight."

The stark contrast between the two performances—dominant dominance followed by listless defeat—encapsulated the challenge facing Berhalter's squad. Nations League competition had delivered its first real lesson: scoring eight goals against a Caribbean minnow meant far less than proving capable of matching intensity against a resurgent regional rival.