Kevin Baxter: How Mexico scored a 'historic' Gold Cup win over U.S. women

Ordóñez and Pelayo were both called up to U.S. age-group national teams but chose to leave and play for Mexico at the senior level.

"Beating the U.S. for the first time on their turf is a special feeling," Ordóñez said, switching to English. "Since I was a kid I played for the United States. Then I changed shirts and now I represent Mexico. To beat the United States is something unforgettable."

Mexico, which recruits heavily in the U.S., has proved wildly successful at coaxing dual nationals to play for a senior team that has improved dramatically from the days when its roster was filled with dual nationals who spoke no Spanish and didn't know the words to the national anthem.

Mexico has also benefited from the investment made in its domestic league. The team it brought to the W Gold Cup featured 20 players from the Liga MX Femenil and just three from NWSL. Compare that to the roster Mexico used in Olympic qualifying in 2016, the year before the Liga MX began play. That team featured seven players from American colleges, five who had no team affiliation and one who played for an amateur youth club in the San Francisco Bay Area.

"Women's football in Mexico is growing," said midfielder María Sánchez, another dual national who was born in Idaho and has played professionally in both the U.S. and Mexico. "We have a league. We have more players in leagues like the NWSL. We can compete against the best in the world like the United States."

Mexico (2-0-1) still has a long way to go to win the Gold Cup, although Monday's victory means it won its group, giving it a better seed in the field for this weekend's quarterfinals, while the U.S. (2-1-0) advanced as the group runner-up. The pairings for the knockout rounds will be determined when group play in the 12-team tournament concludes Wednesday.

Mexico, López promised, won't be resting on its laurels regardless of who it faces next.

"If we lose in the quarterfinals, then the beautiful win of today is useless," he said. "We go down in history as the team that only beat the United States one day."

Maybe. But they could also go down in history as the team that proved the U.S. is no longer invincible.

"It just shows how far the game is coming and there's no easy games anymore," interim U.S. coach Twila Kilgore said. "If we don't take care of business and we don't execute, this is to be expected."