Copa América: USMNT eliminated with 1-0 loss to Uruguay
KANSAS CITY, Missouri — The Copa América host United States is out of the tournament after the group stage.
The U.S. men's national team lost 1-0 to Uruguay on Monday in its final first-round match, its second straight loss after opening USA 2024 with a win over Bolivia. That victory, eight days ago in Dallas seems like an eternity ago. It's a humiliating end to the Americans' brief run in global soccer's oldest international competition, which has been billed as a dry run for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will also be played on home soil as well as Mexico and Canada.
The home team's performance over the three games was a damning indictment of a squad that has been billed as perhaps' the Americans' deepest and most talented ever. It also could cost coach Berhalter his job. The U.S managed just three goals in three games — not good enough for a team whose stated goal was to prove that it can win knockout games against elite opponents.
Uruguay is certainly one of those. A day before the contest, Berhalter said that "our knockout game actually came five days early." The U.S. produced a vigorous response after losing to Panama in Atlanta last week, but still never really looked like they were going to score, let alone win a match they had to in order to have any realistic chance of advancing to the quarterfinals.
Berhalter's future will be decided in the days and weeks to come. But for the U.S. players, this Copa América must serve as a wakeup call for a team that hasn't shown any improvement since the 2022 World Cup. In fact, it did the opposite. Failing to survive as group that included relative lightweights like the Panamanians and Bolivians showed that the USMNT has actually regressed in the 18 months since Qatar.
It will be a long summer for everyone involved in the program, to say the least.
Here are a few quick thoughts on the contest.
Play of the game
The Americans' best scoring chance until the desperate late stages of the match came when Gio Reyna got behind La Celeste's defense in the first half and tried to find a streaking Folarin Balogun. But Uruguayan keeper Sergio Rochet came off his line to smother Reyna's low driven cross before the U.S. striker could tap it across the line:
Turning point
It looked as though the U.S. had dodged a bullet when Uruguay center back Mathías Olivera potted a rebound off a corner kick after U.S. backstop Matt Turner made the initial save. Replays appeared to show that Olivera was offside. But the video assistant referee disagreed and the goal stood. It didn't matter in the end anyway, as Panama retook the lead over Bolivia in the other Group C match, ending any chance that the Americans could eke through to the knockout stage with a tie.
Key stat
The hosts came out flying, which, given the circumstances, was to be expected. But as intense and physical as the first half was, they didn't really threaten to get what could've been a game-changing goal. The U.S. managed just one shot on goal, a long-range header by Antonee "Jedi" Robinson off a corner kick that was easily caught by Rochet. Meantime, the visitors controlled the majority (53-percent) of possession and sent four shots toward Turner, though none of them were on target.
What's next for the USMNT?
The harsh reality is that the Americans will almost certainly have a new coach in place when they reconvene for a pair of stateside September friendlies against Canada and New Zealand. After all, you can't fire an entire team. That the USMNT's next match, against the 2026 World Cup co-hosts back here on the Kansas side of Kansas City, will have a familiar face on the sideline adds insult to injury. The Canadians are led by American Jesse Marsch, a former USMNT assistant who was a finalist for the job that Berhalter was ultimately retired for last June. With wins over Peru and Chile at this Copa, Marsch, who only took the Canada job last month, led the Reds to the quarterfinals in the country's first appearance at the tournament.
What's next for Uruguay?
As the Group C winners, Uruguay secured a quarterfinal date with the second place team in Group D next weekend at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. As things stand on Monday night, that would be five-time World Cup champ Brazil. But things could change on Tuesday of the Brazilians top first place Colombia at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Either those CONMEBOL foes will present a stern test, for Uruguay. They might even prefer Brazil. La Celeste won its most recent meeting with the Seleção, a 2-0 home victory in the capital of Montevideo in October during South America's ongoing qualifying tournament for the 2026 World Cup. A few days earlier, Uruguay played Los Cafeteros to a 2-2 tie in the northern Colombian city of Barranquilla.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports who has covered the United States men's and women's national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him at @ByDougMcIntyre.
