US men’s national team eliminated from Copa America after loss to Uruguay

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

They faced off against Uruguay, the strongest team in Group C. For an hour they neutralised one of the most impressive opponents in the Copa so far, enduring a fierce and physical battle. For a split second, victory seemed within reach.

But we needed to score.

That didn’t happen during a tense, frantic 90 minutes at Arrowhead Stadium.

Instead, they conceded a controversial second-half goal to Uruguay’s Matias Olivera that was ruled offside but was confirmed by video review, leaving them losing 0-1.

Panama, playing at the same time, defeated Bolivia 3-1, while the United States was far behind and eliminated in third place.

When the final whistle blew, some players collapsed to the ground, others collapsed to their knees, and others just stood there with looks of defeat and stunned excitement.

But in the end, it was their last game that cost them. They arrived in Kansas City bruised, shaken up, coming off a loss to Panama and cornered in Group C. A week ago, it had all seemed so simple. Suddenly, failure was lurking deep in Arrowhead, threatening to pounce if the U.S. couldn’t beat Uruguay, the sport’s flyweight powerhouse.

“We have to play the game of our lives,” Christian Pulisic said on Thursday.

On the eve of the showdown with Uruguay, he revised that statement. It was an exaggeration. “Maybe I was a bit emotional,” he said. But the magnitude of the task and the stakes were clear. “We have to play a really strong game,” Pulisic said.

Thirty hours later, they took the challenge.

In a sense it was.

But Uruguay was stronger. Uruguay teeth Uruguay was the team that came on strong in the second half on Monday and wore down the Americans, the team that wasn’t fazed by the physical attack.

The first half was intense and chaotic at times, with several players going down after heavy tackles and both Uruguay’s Maxi Araujo and US striker Folarin Balogun being forced off with injuries after horrific collisions.

The game was also riddled with inaccurate refereeing. At one point, referee Kevin Ortega blew the whistle for a foul on U.S. defender Chris Richards, showing a yellow card, then covered it up, allowing Uruguay the advantage. That resulted in a near-opening goal, only for Tim Ream to rush back and clear it.

The U.S. matched Uruguay’s intensity throughout, which was no easy feat. The U.S. dominated the first 30 minutes, but it was a small victory given the strength of Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay team.

But as is often the case under coach Gregg Berhalter, they just couldn’t score, producing just 0.3 expected goals against Uruguay’s 1.3.

“We started well and had a lot of energy,” Pulisic said after the match, “but in the end we lacked quality. I felt we gave it our all but we just couldn’t find the solution to score.”

In the other Group C match, Panama scored in the 22nd minute against Bolivia, and the U.S. Several Quality. Something had to be created.

Bolivia gave the U.S. team momentum for just a few minutes in the second half, tying the score against Panama. Had both games ended in draws, the U.S. would have slipped into the knockout stages on goal difference.

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

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

Uruguay controlled the game and won 1-0, leaving the U.S. players to limp to the locker room to face their failure and head to elimination from the Copa America.

They limped out, demoralised, beaten and disheartened, sooner than anyone expected. In the weeks leading up to it, many had been questioning expectations and standards going into the Copa. The outside assumption was that a quarter-final berth would be good enough, and a semi-final would be a success, but some went even further. Would you like to try and win?

Few thought they would fail in the group stage, which was obviously far from the ego of the U.S. national team, and it obviously represented a tremendous disappointment.

But it happened, and now all eyes will be on what happens next. They will be on Matt Crocker, the sporting director of U.S. Soccer, and on Berhalter. The majority of fans and pundits believe he should Will he be fired? If he is, who will replace him? If he isn’t fired, how will he and the USMNT respond?

A team made up mostly of under-23 players heads to the Olympics later this month, but for the full USMNT roster, the next 18 months will be a relatively barren one, filled with monotonous, unspectacular friendlies and dreary regional tournaments.

This Copa America Fracasso The tournament was supposed to elevate the soccer program, a stepping stone to the World Cup, but the U.S. enters 2026 with little evidence it can compete with and win among international soccer’s elite.