Weston McKennie's Hat Trick Leads USA Past Cuba 7-0 in CONCACAF Nations League

Weston McKennie recorded the fastest hat trick in United States men's national soccer team history en route to a 7-0 victory over Cuba at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., on Friday.

Josh Sargent, Jordan Morris and Christian Pulisic each added goals for the USMNT, which enjoyed a successful start in its 2019-20 CONCACAF Nations League debut. Morris added three assists.

USMNT also got a score off an own goal by Dario Ramos.     

The United States outshot Cuba 24-4 and put 12 shots on goal to Cuba's zero. USA also possessed the ball for 76 percent of the match.

McKennie set the tone in just 31 seconds:

The 21-year-old then converted a Morris pass into another score minutes later:

The two traded places for the match's third goal:

Then, McKennie kept the USMNT's team four-minute goalscoring rate alive by completing the hat trick:

McKennie didn't officially get an assist here because of the own goal, but his pass to Morris help set up the Americans' fifth score:

Sargent then closed the USMNT's first-half scoring off Morris' third assist:

Pulisic added a penalty-kick goal in the 62nd minute.

The USMNT was dominant, with McKennie its clear star. Kim McCauley of SB Nation pointed out how well he played minus the scoring:

However, FIFA ranks Cuba as the 178th men's international soccer team. Ultimately, it may be hard to take away any big-picture positives.

From a tournament perspective, soccer journalist Caitlin Murray made a sharp point about how the CONCACAF Nations League may even hinder the more powerful CONCACAF teams:

At any rate, the USMNT won its first match since July 3, when the team beat Jamaica 3-1 in the Gold Cup. The U.S. lost to Mexico twice and drew Uruguay in three matches between then and the Cuba result.

The USMNT will now travel to Toronto's BMO Field and face Canada on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The United States, Cuba and Canada comprise Group A in the tournament, which features 41 teams split over three separate leagues. The trio is part of the 12-team League A, the top competition.

Each team is scheduled to play its two opponents home and away once each in a round-robin schedule. Canada is leading the group by virtue of its two wins over Cuba earlier in the tournament.

The winner of the group will advance to the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals, which will take place in June 2020. The first- and second-place teams from the groups in League A will earn automatic berths into the 2021 Gold Cup.

As for the remaining Group A matches, the USMNT and Canada will meet again Nov. 15 at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

The USA and Cuba will close out Group A play with a Nov. 19 matchup in George Town, Grand Cayman, at Truman Bodden Sports Complex, where Cuba is hosting its "home" matches.

Cayman Islands Football Association President Alfredo Whittaker told Spencer Fordin of the Cayman Compass, "Cuba is having some issues with the electricity and the organization of the Nations League games," hence the move.