After losing 1-0 to Uruguay Monday night the United States have exited Copa America in underwhelming fashion. 

What Went Wrong

After winning their opening game 2-0 against Bolivia, the United States looked poised to secure their place in the knockout round against Panama. A moment of madness from Timothy Weah in the 18th minute saw him get sent off and turn the whole tournament on its head for the Americans. The 10-man United States struck first against Panama from a Folarin Balogun thunderbolt but ultimately fell short and conceded twice to the Panamanians. This set up a must win against Uruguay, who successfully stifled any American attack before scoring the only goal of the game in the 66th minute. With Panama beating Bolivia 2-1, the United States dropped to third in the group, meaning they failed to secure a place in the knockout round.

Controversy Leads to Elimination

While the United States did not generate nearly enough offense to win the game against Uruguay, the refereeing of the game certainly did not help. Peruvian referee Kevin Ortega made numerous questionable calls throughout the course of the game that directly impacted almost every aspect of the game. Early in the game he yellow carded American midfielder Tyler Adams, after he was stepped on by Uruguayan player Mathias Olivera. Later, after showing a yellow card to an American player he allowed Uruguay to take their freekick quickly leading to a scoring chance that was successfully cleared by Tim Ream. In this instance, the referee should either let play continue and then show the yellow card, or stop play to show the yellow card before restarting the game, not both options. After Uruguay scored their goal from a freekick, a lengthy VAR review determined that the goal was onside despite there being evidence that the goal scorer was in an offside position when the first shot was made. Unlike the Euros, CONMEBOL does not use the same technology that has cameras all around the stadium to give an accurate view of any offside. After the game, the referee refused to shake the hand of American captain Christian Pulisic in what can only be seen as an act of disrespect.

What to Expect

In what was supposed to be the dress rehearsal for the World Cup co-hosted on home soil in 2026, the United States miserably failed to live up to expectations leaving many fans questioning the leadership of current manager Gregg Berhalter. The United States Soccer Federation has stated that they will conduct a review of everything that happened and come to a conclusion after. Not all the blame can be placed on the manager and the players need to take some responsibility when it comes to the performances. 

Looking Forward 

There are still two more years until the World Cup and in those two years there will need to be significant improvements if the team wants to make any noise. It remains to be seen if Berhalter will remain the coach for the World Cup, but even if he’s not there needs to be improvement from everyone involved.