On January 28, 2019, the U.S. men’s national team blew out Panama, 3-0, to start the Gregg Berhalter era. They maintained heavy possession of the ball, and generated basically all of the match’s good scoring opportunities. It was a statement of sorts, about the type of identity Berhalter wanted to establish and, following their World Cup qualification failure in 2017, the USMNT’s resumed place in the CONCACAF hierarchy. A few months later in Missouri (St. Louis’ Busch Stadium, to be exact), the U.S. drew with Uruguay, too.
Those results would have been awfully useful in the summer of 2024. Instead, the U.S. suffered a red-card-addled loss to Panama and a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay on the other side of Missouri, at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium. The results meant that they were duly eliminated from Copa America, the biggest tournament on the docket between the 2022 and 2026 FIFA World Cups, and one they were hosting.
There was a lot of poor fortune in these two defeats. Tim Weah not only lost his head and suffered his second career red card against Panama, but he did so in the 18th minute, forcing his team to play a man down for well over an hour. A draw would have been an acceptable result, and it almost came to pass … but didn’t. Uruguay’s game-winning goal, meanwhile, was onside by a toenail at most. In all, the U.S. attempted 34 shots worth 4.1 xG in the tournament, but turned a plus-1.6 xG differential into just a 3-3 scoring margin.
Bad luck aside, the elimination was powerfully symbolic, and not just because of Panama’s involvement; it was the first time in 20 home tournaments that the U.S. didn’t advance to the knockout rounds, and, just 23 months before it co-hosts the 2026 World Cup, it leaves the team with an overwhelming sense of stagnation despite having as many players as ever playing for major European clubs.
Without delving too much into who the manager is and should be, let’s talk about the overall state of the national team. What are the biggest issues that the USMNT needs to address between now and when the World Cup kicks off in about 23 months? Why have things seemingly stagnated?
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