After Copa America debacle, U.S. soccer fans want Jürgen Klopp as new coach

Although soccer instead of football was played Monday night at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, fans couldn’t help but think of the Chiefs at various times.

For instance, TV viewers got a look at the Chiefs’ recent success at halftime as cameras showed the U.S. men’s national team preparing to return to the field for its match against Uruguay.

And then there was the goal. Uruguay beat the United States 1-0 on a goal that was clearly offside. A controversial offside call at Arrowhead? Yep, Chiefs fans have seen that before.

However, even if the officials had gotten that call right, the U.S. team would have been eliminated from Copa America on Monday with a scoreless draw.

Despite being the highest-ranked team in their group (per FIFA), the U.S. finished third and failed to advance. Fox Sports’ Alex Lalas delivered a sobering assessment of the Team USA following Monday’s game in Kansas City.

“If this is as good as it gets, it’s not good enough,” said Lalas, who played with Sporting KC when it was called the Wizards. “There’s plenty of excuses but they don’t matter. ... I know there’s a sport in firing coaches in all professional sports and I know the knives are out and they should be, because this is not good enough from (coach) Gregg Berhalter.

“And you have to ask yourself with 2026 coming barreling down the pike, it’s going to come real quick, we can’t afford to waste it, we can’t afford to be embarrassed and we can’t afford to arrive in the summer of ‘26 with a team that has not progressed, that has not evolved and has not improved.”

That would be the 2026 World Cup, and six matches will be in Kansas City. Kurt Austin, the Director of Communications for Sporting Kansas City, noted that the early schedule shows the U.S. men’s team could end up playing a quarterfinal match at Arrowhead Stadium.

‘Go get Klopp!’

The thought of the U.S. men’s national team winning a pair of knockout games at the 2026 World Cup seems like a pipe dream at this point. But fans believe there is a coach who is perfect for Team USA: Jürgen Klopp.

Klopp stepped down as Liverpool’s coach in the English Premier League after this past season. Liverpool won the EPL and Champions League titles under Klopp, who also coach Borussia Dortmund to the Bundesliga title.

Klopp left Liverpool because “he felt he simply didn’t have the energy to carry on. He was jaded and didn’t want to do the job on ‘three wheels,’” as the New York Times reported.

Would Klopp be reinvigorated in the United States? Would it be financially feasible for the U.S. to hire Klopp?

That doesn’t matter to a large contingent of U.S. fans. They want Klopp to replace Berhalter, who is still under contract. Here’s a snippet of what those fans were saying on social media.