The U.S. men’s national team crashed out of the Copa América on home soil at the group stage after a 1-0 loss to Uruguay at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, Monday.
Mathías Olivera scored the decisive goal for Uruguay in the 66th minute after a long check by the video assistant referee for offside and widespread protests from the U.S. after the goal was given, seemingly by the finest of margins.
However, with Panama beating Bolívia 3-1 in the other final game of Group C taking place simultaneously, a win would have been needed for the U.S. to advance behind group-winners Uruguay in second place.
After a shock 2-1 loss to Panama in its last game, the U.S. went into the clash against one of the pre-tournament favorites knowing it had to match or better Panama’s result in its game against Bolivia, one of the tournament’s weakest teams.
Bill Barrett/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF
Instead Panama goes through in second and, for the first time in its history, the USMNT has been eliminated from the group stage of a senior men’s tournament it hosted.
In the previous Copa América hosted in the U.S., the USMNT reached the semifinals.
The U.S. went into Monday’s game without the suspended Tim Weah following his red card against Panama.
And, in a bruising first half, the U.S. lost striker Folarin Balogun to injury, with Ricardo Pepi being brought on as a replacement.
Uruguay also suffered a first-half injury when winger Maximiliano Araújo was stretchered off after appearing to be briefly knocked unconscious.
The U.S. struggled to create clear scoring opportunities throughout the match and finished third in the group with three points.
The Copa América represented the biggest test for the U.S. ahead of hosting the 2026 World Cup alongside Mexico and Canada.
