Copa America 2024 Recap: USMNT Fails to Escape Group Stage

United States bow out of Copa America following a 1-0 loss and a Panama victory.

Photo Courtesy of U.S. Soccer

A lot was riding on the shoulders of Gregg Berhalter and the United States Men’s National Team Monday when they squared off against 15-time Copa America champions Uruguay in what marked the group stage finale.

After a 2-0 win over Bolivia and a stunning 2-1 loss to Panama, the United States came into Monday needing a win as they found themselves in second place with three points. On the flip side, third-placed Panama faced last-placed Bolivia, meaning the US needed to overcome Uruguay to advance to the knockout stage of Copa America.

Despite Uruguay entering the match in first place and having head coach Marcelo Bielsa suspended, Uruguay made no changes from the lineup that secured a dominant 5-0 win over Bolivia in their last outing.

Gregg Berhalter had to make one change as Yunus Musah came in to replace Tim Weah, who served game one of his two-game suspension after striking a Panama player in the 18th minute, which led to a straight red card.

Despite exiting the match against Panama with a knock, former Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner was good to go on Monday as he started in goal behind the back line of Antonee Robinson, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, and Joe Scally. Tyler Adams, Musah, and Weston McKennie comprised the midfield behind the attacking trio of Gio Reyna, Christian Pulisic, and Folarin Balogun.

A near opportunity came in the 13th minute when Reyna received the ball, darted up the left flank, and attempted to cut a ball across the face of goal to Balogun. Goalkeeper Sergio Rochet was aware of the ball and dove onto it before it fell to Balogun.

Adams became the first player to enter the referee’s book after receiving a questionable yellow card in the 16th minute after he and Mathias Olivera came together. Richards saw yellow in the 37th minute after challenging Nicolás de la Cruz. Controversy struck immediately when head referee Kevin Ortega attempted to issue the yellow to Richards while Uruguay quickly attempted to restart the game. The U.S. was caught off guard as Nahitan Nández got onto a ball sent forward and nearly found the back of the net. Thankfully for the Stars and Stripes, Ream was there to deflect the ball away from danger.

Darwin Nunez nearly found the opener in the 38th minute after Olivera kept the ball in play on the left flank and proceeded to cross a ball to Nunez. Thankfully for the USMNT, Nunez’s effort lacked placement as it went wide of goal for a goal kick.

Berhalter had to make his first change in the 41st minute as Balogun could not continue. Ricardo Pepi came on in place of Balogun.

As fans began to celebrate as Bolivia leveled things in Orlando, the crowd was stunned into silence in the 66th when Mathias Olivera got onto the end of a rebound off a Turner save and drilled the ball into the back of the net to put Uruguay up 1-0.

The United States nearly clawed its way back into the game in the 75th minute when Rochet came off his line attempting to scoop it before the U.S. could get to it. After a flurry of passes, Pulisic tried to lob a ball into the empty net, but enough Uruguayan bodies got back as the shot was headed away from danger.

Haji Wright came into the match in the 79th minute when he replaced Joe Scally. Wright nearly got the U.S. onto the board in the 87th minute when he received the ball from Reyna in the center of the box and attempted to find the left side of the net, but Rochet recovered to make a big save to keep Uruguay’s lead intact.

Despite the effort, the United States fell short as Uruguay held on to secure the 1-0 victory. On the flip side, a 3-1 win from Panama over Bolivia sealed the United States’ fate as Berhalter and the U.S. bowed out of the Copa America group stage after finishing in third place with three points on a 1-2-0 record.