The United States is hosting the 2024 Copa America. Still, their national team failed to qualify for the knockout stages after their 1-0 loss to Uruguay, combined with the 3-1 Panama victory over Bolivia.
During the group stage play, the US defeated Bolivia but lost to Panama and Uruguay. The Stars and Stripes have players playing in the best leagues, such as Antonee Robinson, Tim Ream, Tyler Adams, and Chris Richards, who are in the Premier League.
Still, it wasn’t enough despite being one of the favorites to advance. After the elimination on Monday night, FOX Soccer pundit Alexi Lalas slammed the players even though some play in top European leagues.
“If this is as good as it gets, it’s not good enough,” Lalas said postgame on FS1. “And there’s plenty of excuses, but they don’t matter. You can talk about opportunities. We have players that are playing all over the world. Talk about playing in Europe. Well, the entire team that you saw out there plays in Europe, so it’s not MLS’ fault. You can talk about the pathways and the resources that they have. No generation has been given more, and yet this generation hasn’t lived up to that bargain.”
"This is not good enough from Gregg Berhalter… We can't afford to be embarrassed, and we can't afford to arrive in the summer of 2026 with a team that has not progressed, that has not evolved, and has not improved." ??
– @AlexiLalas pic.twitter.com/9u03yHamaS
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 2, 2024
The US will only have the 2025 Gold Cup before hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, so the showing at the Copa America stings more, considering the competition at the CONMEBOL tournament is vastly superior to what they’ll encounter playing CONCACAF national teams.