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The United States is two years away from hosting the World Cup (alongside Canada and Mexico), making 2026 a truly defining year for the arc of the sport of soccer in this country.
The more immediate concern, however, is the fact that the United States Men’s National Team looks likely to be knocked out of this summer’s Copa America in the group stage after Thursday night’s 2-1 loss to Panama.
The USMNT’s match against Panama should’ve been a straightforward contest against an inferior opponent but was instead turned into a desperate defensive dogfight due to USMNT and Juventus winger Tim Weah’s red card.
Around the 16th minute of the match — after the US had already had a goal ruled out for offside — Weah took a swing at Panama defender Roderick Miller. VAR caught the incident, sent the ref to the review monitor, and Weah was given a red.
The red handicapped the US, as the one-man disadvantage completely swung momentum and possession in favor of Panama.
After the loss, Weah took to Instagram to post an apology to “my team and my country.”
“Today, I let my team and my country down. A moment of frustration led to an irreversible consequence, and for that, I am deeply sorry to my teammates, coaches, family and our fans,” Weah wrote on Instagram.
“Moving forward, I am committed to learning from this experience, not allowing an opponent to provoke me, and working to regain the trust and respect of my team and supporters. No matter what I will always fight for my team and my country till the day I’m no longer needed or capable to!” he continued.
“Sincerely apologize to everyone. My love for this team goes beyond just football and I’m so sad and angry at myself for putting my brothers through what they went through tonight.”
Despite the costly red, the reasons for the USMNT’s loss are far more nuanced, especially considering they were gifted a lucky lead thanks to a stunning weak-footed Florian Balogun strike — a lead that the likes of Clint Dempsey believe absolutely should have been seen out, regardless of the circumstances.
Due to their loss to Panama, the USMNT now find themselves on just 3 points after two games, meaning they’ll likely need to beat Uruguay on the third and final matchday in order to advance.