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Panama Had a Wild Celebration With Thierry Henry After Match Winner vs. USMNT

Stephen Douglas

Cecilio Waterman finishes his celebration after scoring against USMNT.
Cecilio Waterman finishes his celebration after scoring against USMNT. / Alex Gallardo-Imagn Images

Panama beat the United States Men's National Team 1–0 in the 2025 Concacaf Nations League semifinals on Thursday night in Los Angeles. The match was tied 0–0 as the teams began five minutes of extra time.

That's when Panama's Cecilio Waterman scored the deciding goal. Waterman then briefly lost his mind and ran straight to the set where CBS Sports had hosted their studio show. Waterman went right up to Thierry Henry and pulled off one of the most aggressive celebrations you will ever see.

If you didn't see Henry smiling or the ensuing hug you might have thought Waterman was having serious words with the French legend. Instead he pulled him in for the real thing and embraced him as his teammates joined him on the CBS set and mobbed him.

Former USMNT star Clint Dempsey couldn't do anything but laugh.

Panama will now face either Canada or Mexico in the final on Sunday while USMNT will focus on the fact that they still get to go to the 2026 World Cup since they're co-hosting.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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