USMNT loses to Uruguay, is eliminated from Copa America

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The U.S. men’s national team was eliminated from the 2024 Copa América on Monday after losing a hard-fought contest.

Uruguay faced the most powerful team in Group C. For an hour, they neutralized one of the most impressive Copa contenders. They had to endure fierce physical duels. At times, they looked capable of winning.

What was needed was to score.

For more than 90 tense, frenetic minutes here at Arrowhead Stadium, it never happened.

Instead, they conceded a controversial second-half goal to Uruguayan Mathías Olivera – which appeared to be offside, but was confirmed by a video review – and lost 1-0.

Panama, playing simultaneously, beat Bolivia 3-1, leaving the Americans in a distant third place and eliminated.

At the final whistle, some players collapsed to the ground, others sank to the waist, and still others stood there, defeated and stunned.

But in the end, it was their previous match that cost them dearly. They arrived in Kansas City wounded and faltering, beaten by Panama and pushed to the brink of the abyss in Group C. A week ago, it all seemed so simple; suddenly, failure was in the bowels of Arrowhead, ready to pounce if the United States failed to beat Uruguay, a flyweight giant.

“We have to go out there and play the best game of our lives,” Christian Pulisic said Thursday.

On the eve of the Uruguay match, he amended that statement, saying it was overstated. “Maybe I was a little emotional,” he said. But the magnitude of the task and the stakes were clear. “We have to play a very strong match,” Pulisic said.

Thirty hours later, they tried.

In some ways, that’s what they did.

But Uruguay was stronger. Uruguay East Uruguay was the team that gained momentum in the second half on Monday and forced the United States to weaken. Uruguay was the team least troubled by physical violence.

The first half was violent and at times destabilizing. Violent tackles brought several players to the ground. Two of them, Uruguayan Maxi Araujo and American striker Folarin Balogun, had to leave the field after frightening collisions.

The match was also punctuated by refereeing errors. On one occasion, referee Kevin Ortega called a foul on U.S. defender Chris Richards and issued a yellow card, which he later removed to give Uruguay the lead. The resulting opportunity nearly gave Uruguay the opener, but Tim Ream rushed to clear.

The United States showed overall intensity against Uruguay, which was no small feat. The Americans were better for the first 30 minutes, which is a small victory in itself, considering the strength of Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguayan team.

But as is often the case under Gregg Berhalter, they failed to find the back of the net. They created only 0.3 Expected Goals compared to Uruguay’s 1.3.

“We had a good start to the game and brought a lot of energy,” Pulisic said after the match, “but in the end there wasn’t enough quality. I felt like we gave everything, but we couldn’t find the solutions to score.”

After Panama scored in the 22nd minute against Bolivia in the other Group C match, the United States had to conjure a few quality; something had to be created.

For a few minutes in the second half, Bolivia gave life to the American team. The Bolivians equalized against Panama. If both games had ended in a draw, the United States would have qualified for the round of 16 on goal difference.

But less than a minute after Bolivia’s goal was confirmed by video analysis, the United States conceded a goal from a set piece.

Panama then scored a second goal to regain the lead, then a third.

Uruguay kept control, won 1-0 and sent the American players trudging to their locker rooms to face defeat, to the exits of the Copa America.

They marched, dejected, broken, discouraged, earlier than expected. Many had been asked in the preceding weeks about their expectations and goals for the Copa; the outside assumptions were that a quarter-final place would be acceptable and a semi-final successful, but some players went further: Why not try to win it?

Few expected a group-stage failure. It fell far short of the American team’s seemingly inflated image. And it would clearly be a colossal disappointment.

But it happened, and now all eyes will turn to what happens next. They will turn to US Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker and to Berhalter. A majority of fans and pundits now seem to agree that should will be fired. Will he be? If so, who will replace him? And if not, how will he and the USMNT react?

A team made up mostly of under-23s will head to the Paris Olympics later this month. But for the U.S. national team, the next 18 months will be relatively dry. There will be dull, low-key friendlies. There will be tedious regional competitions.

This Copa America smashed Doubt hangs over all of them, because this tournament was supposed to elevate the level of the program, it was the stepping stone to the 2026 World Cup in North America. Instead, the United States will enter 2026 with virtually no evidence that it can compete with the elite of international soccer and compete.

Here’s how the match played out in real time: