Two years before the World Cup on home soil, the USA national soccer team failed in the group stage of the Copa America on home soil. The team, which includes former Bundesliga professionals Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Chris Richards, lost 1-0 to Uruguay on Monday evening (local time) in Kansas City.
In Group C, the USA are only in third place after two defeats in three games. Uruguay won all three group matches, while Panama, in second place, advanced to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 (1-0) win against Bolivia. A win against Uruguay would have been essential for the USA to have a chance of reaching the knockout round of the tournament.
Since Mexico had also previously failed in the preliminary round, Canada is the only co-host of the 2026 World Cup still in the tournament for the test run. Previously, the Copa hosts had always made it past the group stage.
“We had a good start with a lot of energy, but at the end of the day the quality just wasn’t enough,” said former BVB professional Pulisic on US television. Coach Gregg Berhalter and the team were heavily criticized in the US media immediately after the defeat. “We are bitterly disappointed with the result. We know we can do more. We didn’t show it in this tournament. We should have been better,” said Berhalter.
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After all, the USA put up a fierce fight against the Copa record champion Uruguay, who, like Argentina, have triumphed 15 times. Fans and players experienced a rollercoaster of emotions in Kansas City. When the news of Bolivia’s equaliser in the parallel match was just making the rounds and thus fuelling hopes of progressing, Uruguay’s goal scorer Mathias Olivera (66th) immediately slammed the door to the quarter-finals for the USA.
In the quarter-finals Uruguay faces Brazil
Panama was able to celebrate in Orlando, almost 2000 kilometers away. Jose Fajardo (22nd), Eduardo Guerrero (79th) and Cesar Yanis (90th+1) scored the second victory after the 2:1 win against the USA. Bruno Miranda (69th) scored the only goal of the tournament for the pointless Bolivians (with ten goals conceded). The referee team for the match, led by Brazilian Edina Alves Batista, was female for the first time in the 108-year history of the Copa.
The quarter-finals could now see a classic match between Uruguay and Brazil, provided that Colombia (6 points) in Group D can draw against the Selecao (4) on Wednesday night (3 a.m. CEST). The quarter-finals open on Thursday with defending champion Argentina against Ecuador.
