Of all the images that encapsulated the failure of the USA’s group stage exit from the 2024 Copa America, one in particular made a statement. It was of Gregg Berhalter gesturing to his struggling players that Bolivia had equalised against Panama, a result that would have kept the USMNT in the competition at the time. Seconds later, the US conceded to Uruguay and ultimately lost its place at its own tournament.
Berhalter’s “1-1” gesture on the touchline said something about the culture of mediocrity that has been allowed to seep into the national team set-up. It’s also something Berhalter vowed not to do before the group decider against Uruguay. “We’re not gonna need to do live updates during the game,” he said. “We’re really focused on winning the soccer game.”
This wouldn’t be the first time Berhalter has said one thing and done another as USMNT manager. Indeed, he vowed to “change the way the world views US soccer” upon his appointment as the national team’s new manager in December 2018. He outlined his plan to turn the USA into a modern, possession-orientated team.
That never materialised, though. Berhalter had success in assembling a talented group of young players, recruiting a number of dual nationals including Folarin Balogun, Antonee Robinson and Yunus Musah, but the USMNT doesn’t play the brand of dynamic, ball-heavy soccer many envisaged they would by now.
The failure to make it out of a Copa America group that included Bolivia and Panama exposed many of the flaws in Berhalter as a coach. This was a 90-minute thesis statement on how the 50-year-old has taken the USMNT as far as he can. After watching this, the decision-makers at US Soccer must surely know this is the end of the road for Berhalter as the national team boss.
In a must-win game, the USA played with energy from the start. They were aggressive against Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay and showed signs of a positive response after the shock loss to Panama. But for all the admirable intensity, Berhalter’s team lacked any sort of attacking game plan. They never looked like scoring.
USMNT supporters had seen this sort of thing before from their team with Berhalter at the helm. Repeatedly over the last few years, the US have struggled to break down low defensive blocks. They have lacked ideas in the attacking third despite boasting difference-makers like Christian Pulisic and Gio Reyna.
It could be argued that the USA’s early exit from the 2024 Copa America can be attributed to Tim Weah’s inexplicable red card against Panama. Had the US won that match after beating Bolivia in their opening game, Monday’s result against Uruguay would have been largely irrelevant. Berhalter and his players would now be preparing for a quarter-final tie.
Nonetheless, the big picture still doesn’t look good for Berhalter. The USMNT has made no progress since the 2022 World Cup. Some of that is on US Soccer after its six-month process to rehire the person who held the head coach position in the first place. Berhalter, however, has never made the USMNT more than the sum of its parts. At the Copa America, it was less.
“We know we’re capable of more and in this tournament we didn’t show it, it’s as simple as that.” Berhalter said after the defeat to Uruguay. “We look at the stage with the fans and the high level of competition and we should have done better. We’ll do a review and figure out what went wrong but it’s an empty feeling for now for sure.”
With the 2026 World Cup on home soil the next major tournament in the calendar, the US Men’s National Team is at a crucial juncture. No matter what decision is now made on Berhalter’s future, the situation is a bad one. US Soccer faces a choice between keeping Berhalter and simply hoping for the best or hiring a new head coach and not having the preparation time and opportunities to bed them in.
This was meant to be the USA’s golden generation. Berhalter set the goal of reaching the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup, highlighting the talent within the current squad. That talent is there, but the USMNT don’t have the manager in place to make the most of it. The Copa America failure made that clear.
