WHAT USMNT NEEDS TO HAPPEN TO STAY IN COPA AMERICA AS URUGUAY SENDS OMINOUS MESSAGE

The United States' hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Copa America are in its own hands - but it won't be easy.

Following a comfortable opening 2-0 win against Bolivia on Sunday that saw captain Christian Pulisic score within three minutes - and AS Monaco striker Florian Balogun double Gregg Berhalter’s side’s lead at the end of the first half - many expected the US to kick on and claim another victory against Panama on Thursday.

Despite Balogun adding his second goal of the tournament to give the US the lead shortly after Timothy Weah was sent off following a VAR check for striking Roderick Miller off the ball, it soon turned into a nightmare for the hosts. Cesar Blackman leveled the score just before the half-hour mark as Jose Fajardo scored a deserved late winner for Panama.

That result and Uruguay’s resounding 5-0 win against Bolivia later on Thursday leaves the US in second place in the group with three points - level with Panama on points but two goals ahead on goal difference. While Bolivia sit rock bottom with no points and a -7 goal difference, Uruguay top the group with six points and a +7 goal difference.

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The USMNT will progress if it beats Uruguay on Monday and Panama fail to beat Bolivia. Alternatively, the US will also qualify if it beats Uruguay and Panama win by less than three goals of the US' victory.

Anything less than a win for Berhalter’s players will leave them vulnerable to going out and takes their chances of qualification out of their own hands. If Panama beat Bolivia and the US fail to win against Uruguay, the hosts will be out. A defeat for the US would also leave them out if Panama avoids defeat against Bolivia or the unlikely case that Bolivia win and overturn an eight-goal difference to the US.

In the improbable circumstance that the US beat Uruguay by four or more goals, it will finish above the South Americans and set up a theoretically easier tie in the quarter-final. However, given Uruguay has all but qualified, Marcelo Bielsa may opt to rotate the side.

Should one or more teams finish level on points then goal difference is the first tiebreaker, followed by goals scored and then the head-to-head record between the sides involved. If teams still can’t be separated then it’s down to whoever has had the fewer red cards and fewer yellow cards.

Former USMNT defender Alexi Lalas claimed that failure to qualify from the group will cost Berhalter his job. Speaking on Fox Sports as a pundit, he said: "If [the USMNT] does not go through, Gregg Berhalter is going to lose his job, and rightfully and fairly so. But this is a situation that this team, including Gregg Berhalter, have created for themselves."

2024-06-28T20:49:38Z dg43tfdfdgfd