For all the wrong reasons

The United States hoped to make a strong statement in the Gold Cup final against Mexico. It turns out they did make a statement, but for all the wrong reasons.

Cut down at the Cup

The United States lost the fixture 2-1, as they could not muster any goals after Chris Richards' fourth minute score.

Kicked around

It's been a turbulent couple of years for United States men's soccer, which is especially depressing considering that 2025 was supposed to be the year the program took a step forward.

Unreachable goals

A devastating 4-0 defeat to Switzerland earlier in 2025 left fans, players and coaches desperately searching for answers.

First things first

ESPN's Jeff Carlisle wrote in June 2025, "Forget the World Cup, the U.S. doesn't look ready for the Gold Cup". It turns out they weren't as Mexico took a lead they would not concede in the second half.

Cleaning house

The timeline for the team has not been a pretty one. In 2024, the U.S. men's national team decided to part ways with manager Gregg Berhalter, which seemed to be met with applause by players.

Reyna's rapid reaction

According to The Daily Mail, United States star player Gio Reyna liked an Instagram post announcing Berhalter's firing within minutes after it became public.

A complicated relationship

Gio Reyna and Berhalter had a rocky relationship to say the least. According to the Daily Mail, Reyna's beef with Berhalter dates back to the 2022 World Cup, where the manager kept Reyna out of the lineup in their opening group stage match, and played him just 8 minutes against England. Berhalter reportedly did this because of Reyna's "poor attitude" in training.

United state of shame

After a disappointing early exit out of the Copa America, United States soccer fans received accountability from the program. While Berhalter's firing was swift and decisive, we'll take a look at his resume leading up to his ultimate sacking.

Doomed to repeat history

Transfermarkt lays out the myriad of moves the United States has made at manager. The country has been searching for a permanent answer since Jurgen Klinsmann’s tenure ended in 2016. Bruce Arena, Dave Sarachan, Berhalter, Asher Mendelsohn, Anthony Hudson and B.J. Callahan have all taken turns as lead of the U.S. soccer team.

Panic mode

In 2023 alone, the United States had three managers, culminating with Berhalter’s re-appointment in August 2023. He also served as manager from Dec 2, 2018 through December 31, 2022.

2022 World Cup

Scrutinizing performance in major tournaments is the barometer to measure managers. Berhalter led the United States to the knockout stage in the 2022 World Cup, where they were defeated by the Netherlands 3-1. This was viewed as largely disappointing, but maybe it should not have been so harshly judged.

Quality of opponent

As we saw again in Euro 2024, the Netherlands are a formidable team with a bevy of talent throughout their roster. While the United States had bigger dreams in the 2022 World Cup, bowing out to a strong team like the Netherlands isn’t a cause for major embarrassment.

Berhalter the savior

It might be difficult to remember now, but U.S. soccer brought Berhalter on to revive a fledgling program. The United States didn’t even qualify for the World Cup in 2018, so bringing them back to the knockout round in 2022 can qualify as progress. Sports Illustrated wrote that it took the United States nearly 14 months to hire him in 2018.

The fire gets hotter

The Washington Post reported that a large fan group of U.S. soccer believed that Berhalter had been unable to improve the team’s standing, and called for his ousting. Even former U.S. players said Berhalter hadn’t been good enough in his role as manager, according to Fox Sports.

The Copa catastrophe

The United States didn’t make it out of the group stage in the Copa America 2024, losing to Panama 2-1, and officially got eliminated with a 1-0 loss to Uruguay.

Seeing red

However, there were circumstances that put the United States in a difficult position during the tournament. For example, Tim Weah received a red card against Panama in the 18^th minute for striking Roderick Miller. Berhalter told ESPN that the act was silly on Weah’s part, but playing a man down for most of the game really hampered the U.S.

Referee complaints

Against Uruguay, officiating was a hot topic, as World Soccer Talk and others discussed some of the bizarre calls made in that contest. After the match, there was demonstrated tension between U.S. star Christian Pulisic and the lead referee Kevin Ortega, who seemed to be at odds after the contest.

Tough breaks

Be that as it may, there’s a case to be made that Berhalter had to overcome obstacles that would have been difficult for any manager to pull off. While the end result certainly isn’t what anyone was looking for, a closer examination of the details may have given the former manager a case for additional rope.

2026 pressure

The United States is co-hosting the 2026 World Cup, and there is no doubt that this is in the back of the program’s minds. The Los Angeles Times wrote that the U.S. soccer is in trouble, and the current state of affairs cannot go on.