If crashing out of Copa America in the group stage wasn’t bad enough for the USMNT after their 1-0 loss to Uruguay, referee Kevin Ortega added insult to injury, refusing to shake U.S. superstar Christian Pulisic’s hand after the match.
The reason for the snub is unclear. It could have been that Pulisic said something to Ortega in the moment or due to the culmination of complaints from the USMNT captain at the end of a tense and controversial night.
There were several moments where Ortega’s calls went against the U.S. and the team wasn’t happy. The ref allowed a quick Uruguay restart after a USMNT foul that almost led to a goal, seemed to call some phantom fouls on the U.S., and booked two USMNT players with yellow cards.
USMNT-Uruguay referee Kevin Ortega hails from Peru where he started his refereeing career in the Peruvian Primera División. Since 2019 he’s been an international referee for FIFA.
Another disappointment for Christian Pulisic and the USMNT
While the USMNT made the knockout round of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the performance in doing so was less than inspiring. In the Group Stage, the U.S. drew 1-1 with Wales and 0-0 with England before beating Iran 1-0 to move on.
The team then lost to a good, but by no means great, Netherlands team 3-1 in the Round of 16.
The Copa America was supposed to be the next step in the USMNT’s path toward the 2026 World Cup, which will be in The States. Christian Pulisic and company were in a very winnable group with Uruguay, Panama, and Bolivia, the 14th, 43rd, and 84th-ranked teams in the FIFA World Rankings. The United States is currently ranked 11th.
However, a 2-0 victory over Bolivia was followed by an ugly 2-1 loss to Panama where forward Timothy Weah was sent off on a red card 18 minutes into the match. The loss to Uruguay followed and now the USMNT leaves Copa America with more questions than answers.
This is a golden generation of American soccer talent, with the majority of the team playing in major leagues in Europe. However, thus far, the squad has little to show this. Yes, the team is still young and should be coming into its prime in 2026, but the results in 2024 were not heartening.
After this embarrassing and disappointing exit, the biggest question surrounding the USMNT is what will happen with manager Gregg Berhalter?
U.S. soccer surprisingly re-hired Berhalter after his contract ran out following the last World Cup cycle. It is relatively common for countries to replace their manager for each four-year cycle, and given the uninspiring results in 2022 — combined with the drama between Berhalter and Gio Reyna’s family — it was surprising that he was brought back.
Now, the powers that be have a huge decision to make as to whether Berhalter is the best man for the job. If they make a switch now, while there are no major tournaments between now and the World Cup, a new manager will have two years to get his system in place. If not, the USMNT could be in for a rough time hosting the world in 2026.
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