United States crashes out of Copa America with loss to Uruguay in Kansas City

The United States Men’s National Team lost for the first time ever in Kansas City, a 1-0 scoreline in favor of Uruguay. The result doomed the U.S. to a group-stage elimination at the 2024 Copa America.

“We know that we’re capable of more, and in this tournament we didn’t show it,” US head coach Gregg Berhalter said after the match. “We look at the stage that was set with the fans in this tournament, the high level of competition in this tournament, and we should have done better.”

A largely pro-USA crowd of 55,460 filled GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium and provided a strong atmosphere, just a taste of what World Cup matches might feel like in 2026.

Goalkeeper Matt Turner was complimentary of the atmosphere he experienced in the tournament, not just in Kansas City but in previous stops in Dallas and Atlanta. He said he took extra time on the field after the match to show appreciation for the fan support.

“Not only the fans that were in the stands but the ones that we’ve seen in our hotels and on our travels,” Turner said. “It was amazing. And if that’s a taste of what’s to come in 2026, I’m really, really excited for that.”

While the atmosphere in the stands was superb, the product on the field did not match.

The first half was marred with stoppages and several questionable calls from the lead official, who became a focus of yells from the crowd and much of the match commentary.

There was also one serious stoppage, when Uruguay’s Maximiliano Araujo was hurt after colliding with a teammate and falling to the ground, where his head and neck may have hit the field. He was carried out alert, on a stretcher, wearing a neck brace.

There was one moment of hope when Bolivia leveled the score (1-1) of its game against Panama while the United States and Uruguay remained tied 0-0. Word of Bolivia getting an equalizer percolated through the stadium and fans quickly started to cheer — the U.S. would’ve advanced if those results held.

But moments later, Uruguay went ahead.

Uruguay scored in the 66th minute on a tap-in from Mathias Olivera. He appeared to be offside on the initial header by Ronald Araujo. VAR did not overturn the call, saying Olivera was even with a U.S. defender’s foot when the header was made.

There were several controversial officiating moments.

On one, which came in the first half, the referee called a foul committed by Weston McKennie, and in the process of giving him a yellow card allowed Uruguay to take the free kick quickly.

“I saw things that I’ve never seen before right in front of my eyes today that I truly can’t believe,” United States captain Christian Pulisic said.

“It’s not why we lost,” Pulisic continued. “We’re not out of this tournament because of officiating.”

The United States could not find success in the final third, nor did the home team ever really threaten the back of the net. And Panama’s 3-1 win all but ensured the U.S. team’s elimination.

“We’ll do a review and figure out what went wrong and why it went wrong,” Berhalter said. “But it’s an empty feeling right now for sure.”

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.