It's starting to feel real now. When members of the United States men's national team report for the U.S. men's national team's annual January camp one week into 2025, the 2026 FIFA World Cup that will be co-hosted by the U.S. (along with Canada and Mexico) will be just one calendar year away.
But before looking ahead to what should be a fascinating next 12 months for the USMNT, let's quickly take stock of the last 12. Because 2024 was drama-packed from start to finish for the Americans, who won another title over their biggest rival, bombed out of a major tournament on home soil, fired their longtime coach and then landed one of the world's best as his replacement. How did the U.S. get there?
Let's count the ways.
An ominous start
No, it wasn't the mostly MLS-based USMNT's year-opening friendly defeat to Slovenia in San Antonio, Texas. The first real clue that 2024 might be a slog for the Americans under coach Gregg Berhalter came when Christian Pulisic and the rest of the full-strength squad arrived in the Dallas area in late March to defend the Concacaf Nations League titles they won in 2021 and 2023.
The hosts faced a depleted Jamaica in the semis at AT&T Stadium in suburban Arlington, but that didn't stop the Reggae Boyz from stunning the U.S. by taking the lead in the opening seconds. The score stayed that way until the 95h minute. A Jamaican own goal saved Berhalter's side, giving them a second chance to win a match they fully deserved to lose. Haji Wright scored twice in extra time to give the Americans a 3-1 win and a date against rival Mexico in the finale. But it foreshadowed the trouble of the months ahead.
A brief Nations League salvation
Despite a decidedly pro-Mexico crowd of almost 60,000 at Jerry World, the U.S. dominated their chief nemesis from start to finish on the way to another historic dos-a-cero victory and a third consecutive Nations League crown. The night couldn't have gone better. Tyler Adams, the USMNT's 2022 World Cup captain who missed all of 2023 because of a recurring hamstring injury, scored a spectacular long-range opener just before halftime.
Gio Reyna, another oft-injured star, sealed the triumph in the second half. Afterward, Adams' took aim at Berhalter's critics while Reyna, in his first comments on the matter since Qatar, said his public falling out with the coach at the World Cup was firmly behind both men.
As the players and staff headed out into the rainy north Texas night to celebrate with the trophy, the vibes were sky-high. The performance against Jamaica felt like a fluke, and they still won both March games by multiple goals. Little did anyone realize then that it would be the climax of the entire year.
Another blinking red warning sign
Nice as the Nations League three-peat was, the priority from the beginning of 2024 was clearly the Copa América — South America's continental championship — which would feature six Concacaf teams to round out the 16-nation field and be played across the U.S. in packed NFL stadiums.
Before the main event, U.S. Soccer scheduled two tuneups, against Colombia and record five-time World Cup champion Brazil. The red, white and blue met Los Cafeteros first, just outside Washington D.C. Ninety minutes later they'd been pummeled 5-1 — the biggest loss of the Berhalter era.
Most worrying was the clear lack of fight. Colombia was ahead by two before the contest was 20 minutes old. Veteran Tim Weah pulled one back for the home team, but the visitors scored three more times in the second half. Four days and lots of soul-searching later, the much improved Americans played Brazil to a gutsy 1-1 tie. At that point, a deep Copa run still felt realistic.
Catastrophe at the Copa América
The first game, a 2-0 stroll over Bolivia, went almost perfectly. Sure, ideally the U.S. would've further padded their goal differential. But the three points set them up well to advance, along with star-studded Uruguay, to the quarterfinals heading into their second group stage match.
A victory over the Panamanians in Atlanta and the hosts would be all but qualified. But an early, uncharacteristic red card by Weah reduced the Americans to 10 men for the final 72 minutes of what turned out to be a fatal 2-1 loss. Needing a win over Uruguay in their first round finale, the U.S. couldn't muster a goal in a 1-0 defeat. Ten days later, Berhalter was out of a job.
United States vs. Uruguay Highlights | 2024 Copa América
The Mauricio Pochettino era begins
With the 2026 World Cup on home soil less than two years away at that point, U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker promised to target a top-level coach. He exceeded most realistic expectations by landing Pochettino, the affable 52-year-old Argentine who had worked with some of the world's top players during successful spells with brand-name European clubs Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.
Pochettino won his first match, 2-0 over Panama in an October friendly. And while his second match in charge, a loss by the same score in Mexico to El Tri later that month, the Americans have since shown improvement. In November, the USMNT beat Jamaica home and away to clinch a spot in the 2025 Nations League semis — and finish their roller coaster 2024 on a high.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports. A staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he has covered United States men's and women's national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.
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