Copa Stakes Rise for US Coach Berhalter

It certainly feels like now or never for the United States men’s national team (USMNT) under Gregg Berhalter.

The Americans enter Copa America 2024, which they are hosting, with high expectations after a run to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup where a young, promising core captivated the nation and teased an incoming golden generation.

To his credit, Berhalter helped build that foundation. He has given the likes of Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Sergino Dest, Tyler Adams, Josh Sargent, and Folarin Balogun time to settle into the national team with eyes on the 2026 World Cup on home soil.

But what has been one of the most talented American rosters ever has come with mixed results with Berhalter at the helm. They have largely dominated continental play when fielding a full roster, winning each of the last three CONCACAF Nations League championships.

North American competition is considerably weaker than the rest of the world, though, and the Americans have struggled against international opponents beyond the continent. They have not won against a non-North-American nation since October 17, 2023, a 4-0 win against Ghana. That came just three days after a 3-1 loss to Germany.

Since then, Berhalter’s men lost to Slovenia on Jan. 20 and were trounced 5-1 by Colombia — one of the 16 teams competing at Copa America — on June 8 before an impressive 1-1 draw to Brazil four days later. But the manager has seemed almost delusional when assessing his team’s ability to win against premier competition, saying after that thumping by Colombia that USMNT could “beat top teams.”

“But we have to go show it,” Berhalter added. “We’ve talked a lot about doing it and for us it’s really about the performance, going out there and having a solid performance that you putting yourself in position to actually go ahead and win.”

The problem is that the USMNT has not beaten a team currently ranked inside the top 20 of FIFA’s world rankings since defeating Iran in the final match of the group stage at the 2022 World Cup on Nov. 29. They defeated World Cup semifinalists Morocco during a June friendly in that same year, but they were ranked 24th in the world.

Needless to say, it has been a while since the Americans have come up with a victory against a top team not named Mexico.

Currently ranked No. 11 in the world, the USMNT is in Group C at Copa America with No. 15 Uruguay, No. 56 Paraguay, and No. 85 Bolivia. Outside of Uruguay, early tests are not that difficult. But this is a competition that could feature matchups with Brazil or the defending World Cup champions Argentina or the same Colombians that breezed past them at some point down the road.

The Americans have to show that they can hang with some of the world’s best now before entertaining any sort of thought of making a serious run at the World Cup in two years. If Berhalter cannot navigate them to positive results, the US Soccer Federation has to find someone who will.