UNITED STATES, — In the wake of the U.S. men's national soccer team getting bounced out of Copa America in the group stage, calls for head coach Gregg Berhalter have grown, including from two prominent supporters groups.
The USMNT lost to Uruguay 1-0 in their final group stage match, which eliminated them from the Copa America tournament.
The American Outlaws and Barra 76 have both issued statements calling for a change in leadership within U.S. Soccer, echoing the sentiments of media pundits and fans online. Barra 76 released their statement on Tuesday night, less than 24 hours after the Uruguay loss.
"We are deeply concerned with the current state of our national team under Gregg Berhalter," the group's statement read, in part. "We demand change to invigorate our team's competitive edge and inspire pride amongst fans. We believe replacing Gregg Berhalter as head coach of the USMNT is essential to revitalizing our national team's strategy and achieving the results our players and supporters deserve."
The American Outlaws, the largest U.S. supporters' group, did not mention Berhalter by name but called for accountability within the soccer federation, specifically with a change at the head coaching position.
Immediately after the Uruguay loss, the FOX Sports broadcast team criticized Berhalter's leadership of the group and the players' "comfort" with Berhalter and what they described as a sense of complacency.
“At a time where we need to be energized and excited about the leadership going into the next two years, I think we find ourselves questioning and negative and cynical and divided, let’s be honest, relative to what can be in 2026,” former U.S. defender Alexi Lalas, now FOX's lead soccer analyst, said Tuesday.
Some aren't convinced the U.S. soccer federation will force out Berhalter, given the length of time it took to make decisions the last two times the job was open.
“If this were any other country, I think the decision would probably have been a lot easier, but I think they're going to be reluctant to make any changes, at least any time soon,” said Tony Meola said, the starting goalkeeper at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.
Kasey Keller, the goalkeeper in 1998 and 2006, said a top European manager would force the U.S. to increase the salary of newly hired women's coach Emma Hayes.
“It’s not that simple because of what the federation has done and the decisions they’ve made on how they’re going to implement budgets for the men and the women,” said Keller, now an ESPN analyst. “When the fan base starts talking about managers that are available, you can't not separate budgetary constraints — Well, I want Taylor Swift to play at my birthday party, but I have a budget of 100 grand. Well, it’s not going to work out for you. Sorry."
Matt Crocker was hired as USSF sporting director in April 2023 and made last year's decision to bring back Berhalter. He again would lead a search.
“Matt Crocker, this is on him in that he’s hired Gregg, and so if there is a problem it means admitting not just a mistake but a colossal mistake,” Lalas said.
Editor's note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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