The United States scored a stunning team goal in a friendly match against Mexico last night, but the effort was then wrongly ruled offside.The US extended their unbeaten run to 44 matches after thrashing Mexico 4-0 in East Hartford yesterday. More than 27,700 fans were in attendance for the nation’s final warm-up game before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.Lindsay Horan opened the scoring in the 6th minute, before Carli Lloyd made it 2-0 just five minutes later. Reyna Reyes scored an own goal in the 37th minute, with Tobin Heath then wrapping up the victory just before half-time.Despite the emphatic win, the US can feel rightfully aggrieved after their stunning team goal was disallowed by the referee. In the 11th minute, just seconds after Lloyd got on the scoresheet, the ball was brought up the field by a series of incredible one-touch passes. Heath then lifted a sumptuous assist into the path of Christen Press.

Press took the ball around the Mexican goalkeeper to score perhaps one of the greatest team goals of all time, but the referee wrongly blew for offside. Football fans reacted to the moment in frustration.

One Twitter user posted: “I still cannot believe this didn't count because of a ref mistake”, while another wrote: “To think this didn’t count because the referee ‘prematurely whistled’ is an absolute joke. That is liquid football. Pure art.”

The US are considered one of the main medal contenders for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. They previously won gold at Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012, but finished a disappointing fourth-place at Rio 2016.

The four-time World Cup winners are drawn in Group G for the Games. They face a tough opening fixture against Sweden, before coming up against New Zealand and then Australia. If they win at Tokyo 2020, they will become the first nation to follow a World Cup title with an Olympic gold medal.

After the match against Mexico, coach Vlatko Andonovski revealed he was confident about the US’s chances of making history.

“I feel good,” he said. “Very excited about the trip. Obviously I feel like we’re prepared. I feel like we are moving in the right direction and slowly but surely fulfilling all the tasks necessary to be fully prepared for the Olympics.”