US Soccer Federation to conduct ‘extensive investigation’ after Copa America elimination

The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) will conduct a full investigation after a disappointing Copa America tournament on home soil “fell short of expectations”.

The U.S. men’s national team defeated Bolivia 2-0 in the opening match, but then lost 2-1 to Panama and lost 1-0 to Uruguay in the qualifying round.

That result, combined with Panama’s victory over Bolivia, saw them eliminated in the group stage.

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With the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico just two years away, head coach Gregg Berhalter’s position as head coach is under great pressure.

A statement from USSF said: “Our tournament performance fell short of our expectations. We must do better.

“We will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of our performance in the Copa America and how we can best improve the team and results ahead of the 2026 World Cup.”

After his team’s elimination, Berhalter said: “We know we can do more and in this tournament we didn’t show that, it’s as simple as that. We look at the stage with the fans and the high level of the competition and we should have done better. We will do an evaluation and find out what went wrong, but it is definitely an empty feeling now.”

Requested by The Athletics If he still believes he is the right man and voice to lead the group, Berhalter replied, “Yes.”

The 50-year-old Berhalter led the US national team to the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but his contract expired at the end of that year, partly due to his interactions with winger Gio Reyna.

Reyna was nearly sent home from the World Cup for his behavior after being told he would not be a starter for the U.S. team in its opening match against Wales. Reyna’s lack of commitment in subsequent training sessions nearly led to his dismissal from the team, but Berhalter opted to keep Reyna in Qatar.

The relationship between Berhalter and Reyna was examined in the post-World Cup review (Ercin Erturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

After the tournament, the coach addressed those issues without mentioning Reyna during the Q&A portion of a leadership conference that was governed by Chatham House rules, which usually meant any comments were off the record. Those comments, however, were published and The Athletics reported that Reyna was the player Berhalter was talking about.

Following these stories, Reyna’s parents — former U.S. national players Claudio and Danielle Reyna, close friends of Berhalter and his wife, Rosalind Berhalter — reported to former U.S. Soccer Federation sporting director Earnie Stewart a 1992 incident in which Berhalter kicked Rosalind during an argument when the two were freshmen at the University of North Carolina.

That led to an investigation by US Soccer, which ultimately determined that Berhalter should be rehired.

Captain Christian Pulisic, who scored in the opening win over Bolivia but was unable to help in the two poor performances that followed, was disappointed that he had not found a “solution” in the final third of the match against Uruguay.

“We started well and brought a lot of energy, but at the end of the day there was just not enough quality,” Pulisic said. “I felt like we gave everything, but we just couldn’t find the solution to score.”

When asked how the team should proceed, he said: “It’s about getting some rest, regrouping and finding an identity again.”

Pulisic couldn’t help the USMNT advance (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Goalkeeper Matt Turner backed Berhalter and the current staff to get things in order.

“I don’t see any problem with the direction we’re going,” Turner said. “When you have that kind of fight on the pitch in every game of this tournament, it says a lot about how the manager is preparing us.”

Defender Chris Richards, speaking to The Athleticsalso believes that progress is being made.

“Every game is a step forward, regardless of the result. You can learn a lot from every game,” he said. “I think people like to criticize us a lot because of who we are and we take that and we keep going.

“We try not to listen to outside noise too much. They can say what they want, but every game, every training is a step forward, regardless of the result.”

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Midfielder Weston McKennie is open to the next steps but would like to continue playing for Berhalter if that is the direction he goes.

“I think we all feel good about Gregg and we all understand him and we’ve had him for a long time,” he said. The Athletics“He has taken the team forward enormously since we started four or five years ago.

“I think the connection we have with him is important, to have a coach who has players who would run through a wall for him, players who listen to him. And so I think whatever happens, happens, but I think if he’s the coach, we’re all happy, get up, dust ourselves off, learn and keep moving forward. That’s the only thing you can do right now.

“You can’t really try to live in the past, you can’t think too far into the future, you can just live in the present and improve little by little and see where it takes us.”

The U.S. national team’s next match is scheduled for September, with two friendlies: on September 7 against Canada in Kansas City, and three days later against New Zealand in Cincinnati.

(Top photo: John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)