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Jeff Carlisle, US Soccer Correspondent
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Coach Gregg Berhalter spoke to the media on Monday following the U.S. Men’s Soccer National Team’s 1-0 loss to Uruguay, which eliminated them from the group stage of the 2024 Copa America, and was asked if he is the right voice and person to lead the United States at the 2026 World Cup.
“Yes,” he replied in a barely audible voice.
Berhalter’s answer wasn’t surprising. Resignations during press conferences are not uncommon, but a coach who doesn’t defend himself in a moment like this is extremely rare. And yet Berhalter’s answer runs counter to the available evidence. The U.S. was eliminated at the first hurdle in the Copa America, a tournament that not only played in front of a supportive crowd but also was placed in an entirely manageable group that included Bolivia and Panama in addition to Uruguay.
But that momentum wasn’t enough to propel the U.S. into the knockout stages, instead featuring a team that hurt itself with crucial errors and couldn’t find the results it needed.
Do the players deserve some blame? Absolutely. But Berhalter must also take responsibility for this performance. As a result, the U.S. Soccer Federation needs to move forward and find a new coach who can better generate the momentum the 2026 World Cup may bring.
To be clear, the search for a new coach is not just about the results of one tournament. Most indictable is the lack of notable progress the U.S. has made since its encouraging performance at the 2022 World Cup, when a young team reached the knockout stages. The hope was that the team’s young core would develop and take the next step to join the world’s top teams.
Instead, the USMNT seems to have regressed, despite the addition of forward Folarin Balogun, arguably the team’s best player in the tournament, and the more aggressive Giovanni Reyna. The gap between the U.S. and the other CONCACAF teams outside of Mexico seems to be closing. At the time, their CONCACAF Nations League second-leg loss to Trinidad and Tobago (which the U.S. still won on aggregate) and their CNL semifinal performance against Jamaica (which won in extra time thanks to a lucky own goal) seemed like blips. In hindsight, they now seem like harbingers of things to come: defensive collapse, lack of discipline, lack of creativity. Put it all together and you have a team that is disjointed and inconsistent on the field.
That was clear Monday night, when the U.S. got off to a strong start, giving Uruguay, currently the No. 2 qualifier for the South American World Cup, a tough fight to stop. And there was a minute, or maybe even a few seconds, when it looked like the U.S. might slip into the knockout stages. Bruno Miranda had just scored an tying goal for Bolivia against Panama, the U.S. and Uruguay were tied 0-0 and the U.S. was poised to advance on goal differential. What had seemed out of reach at the start of the game was suddenly within reach.
1:59
Moreno explains what US did wrong against Uruguay
Alejandro Moreno believes the United States had the wrong game plan against Uruguay in a crucial Copa America group stage match.
And that chance was snatched. Uruguay defender Matias Olivera picked up the rebound after a Ronald Araújo header and smashed it in. La Celeste Panama quickly regained the lead against Bolivia after taking the lead in the 66th minute on a play that was ruled offside on replay, and Uruguay’s notoriously physical play dismantled the USA, putting their hopes of progressing in the Copa America out of sight.
But this was just one in a series of missed chances for the U.S. in the tournament. They failed to score more goals against Bolivia in the opening game to improve their goal differential, and then had a disastrous loss to Panama when Timothy Weah received a red card early in the game, which was not Berhalter’s fault. But the fact that the U.S. gave Balogun an early lead, only to lose it quickly and then end up scoring the winner late in the game, was another example of this team’s failure to live up to expectations. Too often, the U.S. seems to be in a position to advance but fails to capitalize on those chances.
Berhalter and some of the players stressed that the team needed to maintain the intensity it showed at the start of the game throughout the game.
“I think we have to work harder as a team,” goaltender Matt Turner said. “We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard and we have to carry that same enthusiasm that we showed here every single minute of every game because in a tournament format, every decision, every call, every shot you miss, every shot you save, every shot you don’t block, it’s all amplified 10 times.”
How did that happen after five years with Berhalter? Berhalter never really had an answer to that question. Neither did Turner. One reason it doesn’t make sense is that the team is relatively young. The players are in the prime of their careers and have a ton of experience. Intensity shouldn’t be an issue, but it is.
The team’s relative lack of creativity also remains an issue after finishing the game with an expected goals (xG) of just 0.56. Against Uruguay, some touches seemed just a little too loose, and shots just a little too long. Credit Uruguay for their tenacity in defense, a mentality that has been the backbone of Uruguay’s success for over 100 years. The U.S. once had that mentality, but for some reason it’s fizzling out now. Again, Berhalter is to blame.
The players all still support Berhalter. There was a lot of self-criticism.
“I don’t think this tournament had anything to do with the staff or the tactics or the way we played,” Reina said. “I think it was more individual mistakes and I think there’s only so much the staff can do. At the end of the day, I think the players have to take control on the field and at the end of the day, I think the players just didn’t try hard enough to go ahead.”
There is some truth to this. The current generation of players has been much praised over the last five years. There is some justification for this given what some of them have achieved at club level. But there has also been a plateau. Some players are not getting the playing time that they should be getting at club level, where most of their development comes.
But it also seems like there’s an unhealthy comfort level within the team. It’s normal for tensions to arise within a national team when a big tournament is coming up. Are players in the coach’s plans? How do they stay there? If not, how do they get there? At the moment, there doesn’t seem to be any of those issues. With a new manager every cycle, that tension gets recalibrated because everyone starts over. That’s part of why a change of manager seems necessary now.
So what’s next? After the game, U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker released the following statement:
“Our performance in the tournament fell short of expectations and we need to work harder. We will now take a comprehensive look at our performance in the Copa America and how we can improve our team and results as we look towards the 2026 World Cup.”
This is suspiciously similar to the procedure used to eliminate the U.S. women’s national team in the round of 16 at last year’s Women’s World Cup, the country’s fastest exit in World Cup history, and led to then-coach Vlatko Andonovski stepping down just a few weeks later. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Berhalter faces a similar fate.
