NEW YORK — Ten months into his second stint as coach of the U.S. men's soccer team, Gregg Berhalter has been fired, leaving the Americans trying to find a brand new leader lower than two years before hosting the World Cup.

Berhalter was sacked on Wednesday, nine days after his team's first-round exit from the Copa America raised doubts about whether he was the appropriate person to proceed as coach.

“The result of the Copa America is extremely disappointing and I take full responsibility for our performance,” Berhalter said in an announcement. “Our approach and process have always been focused on the 2026 World Cup and I remain confident that this group will be one of the big stories in 2026.”

After a 2-0 win over Bolivia of their opening Copa America campaign, the USA lost 2-1 to Panama, twiddling with a person down for a lot of the match as a result of Tim Weah's sending off, after which lost 2-1 to Uruguay. During his second term, the USA recorded seven wins, six losses and one draw, taking their overall record to 44 wins, 17 losses and 13 draws.

When Berhalter returned to the bench last September, he announced that the team's goal was to “change American soccer forever.” And if that’s to occur, it’ll occur without him.

Sporting director Matt Crocker has rehired Berhalter and may even make recommendations for his successor. The team will play friendlies against Canada and New Zealand in September.

USSF spokesman Neil Buethe declined to make Crocker available for questions from the Associated Press.

“Our immediate focus is to find a coach who can maximize our potential as we continue to prepare for the 2026 World Cup and we have already begun the search,” Crocker said in an announcement.

USSF President Cindy Parlow Cone also issued an announcement. She didn’t immediately reply to a text message in search of further comment.

Possible successors to Berhalter include Jürgen Klopp, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Marcelo Bielsa, in addition to Jesse Marsch, Hugo Pérez, Pellegrino Matarazzo, David Wagner, Steve Cherundolo, Jim Curtain, Massimiliano Allegri and Mauricio Pochettino.

The salary could possibly be an issue.

Berhalter earned $2,291,136 in 2022, including a $900,000 bonus for helping the Americans qualify for the World Championship and reach the second round. A top men's coach could put pressure on the us to extend the salary of newly hired women's coach Emma Hayes.

Only 23 months to go until the World Cup involves the USA for the second time and the Americans will play their opening game on June 12, 2026 in Inglewood, California. The only competitive games with a full player pool until then will likely be within the CONCACAF Nations League.

Berhalter, who turns 51 on Aug. 1, was the primary American to teach the national team after playing for the team at a World Cup. He was hired because the U.S. coach in December 2018 after playing for Hammarby (Sweden) (2011-13) and Columbus Crew (Major League Soccer) (2013-18).

“I want to thank the U.S. Soccer Federation for entrusting me with the leadership of this team for the past five years,” Berhalter said. “Representing our country is a tremendous honor and I am proud of the identity we have built on and off the field. It has been very gratifying to watch this team improve over the years and I continue to be grateful for the lifelong bonds we have built with our players, coaches and staff.”

He led the U.S. to CONCACAF Nations League titles in 2021 and 2024 and one other B-team title within the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. His players strongly supported Berhalter, saying he fostered a culture that kept the group together.

That support led Crocker to rehire Berhalter 5 1/2 months after his original contract expired while an investigation was conducted right into a decades-old domestic violence allegation dropped at the eye of the us by the Reyna family, who were upset that Berhalter limited Gio Reyna's playing time on the World Championship. A law firm hired by the us said there have been no legal impediments to reinstating Berhalter.

Berhalter's critics cited a scarcity of success against teams outside the region and difficulties traveling against Central American rivals. The U.S. secured the region's final automatic World Cup spot on goal difference and had the second-youngest team on the 2022 finals in Qatar. The U.S. squandered a second-half lead in a 1-1 draw with Wales, drew 0-0 with England and beat Iran 1-0 to succeed in the knockout rounds, where the Americans played poorly and lost 3-1 to the Netherlands.

Players showed a scarcity of discipline: defender Sergiño Dest received a red card for arguing with a referee in Trinidad and Tobago last November, and Weah was sent off within the match against Panama for hitting an opponent on the pinnacle.

“Gregg has earned the respect of everyone in our organization and has played a critical role in assembling a young team and moving the program forward,” Crocker said in his statement.

Bruce Arena led the team to a quarter-final appearance in 2002, their best since 1930, but then failed within the group stage in 2006.

Bob Bradley's team reached the second round in 2010 and earned him a four-year contract extension, but he was fired by the us eleven months later after the Americans blew a two-goal lead and lost to Mexico in the ultimate of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Jürgen Klinsmann replaced him and led the team to the second round of the 2014 World Cup, but was fired after the ultimate round of 2018 qualifying opened with a 2-1 home loss to Mexico and a 4-0 defeat in Costa Rica. Arena returned and the U.S. lost on the ultimate day of qualifying in Trinidad and Tobago, ending a streak of seven consecutive World Cup appearances.

While the brand new coach takes over players like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams, who’ve had success at European clubs, goalkeepers Matt Turner and Ethan Horvath in addition to Reyna haven’t been in a position to gain any playing time at first division clubs.

Nestor Lorenzo often gets to the guts of the matter. When asked in regards to the mysterious James Rodriguez ahead of an important match against Brazil on Tuesday, Colombia's eloquent coach once more provided his answer.

“Now he runs a little less, but he thinks a little more. That's good for him. He's well surrounded, and that's why he plays well.”

After just three games on the 2024 Copa America, the 32-year-old Rodriguez has created 11 possibilities for his teammates – greater than some other player within the tournament – and provided three assists. Had it not been for the merciless video assistant referee (VAR) line-drawing midway through an exhilarating first half against Brazil last night in Santa Clara, California, he would have had 4.

“I know his love for the jersey and his commitment to the national team,” Lorenzo continued, “and that's why I trusted him.”

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Rodriguez's involvement with the Colombian national team has been uncertain lately, missing out on the squad for the 2021 Copa America as his club form continued to say no. Now at Brazilian club Sao Paulo, his fitness and form have allowed him to play just below 700 league minutes in 12 months.

Still, Lorenzo has found a spot for Rodriguez's technical ability to breathe in a 4-3-1-2 system, pulling the strings in a positionally flexible role behind the 2 strikers. Hard-running and hard-nosed tacklers Jefferson Lerma and Richard Rios can do the dirty work in midfield, leaving the No. 10 free to mix with the intelligent Jhon Arias, spot the relentless runs of Luis Diaz, or look out for busy centre-forward Jhon Cordoba within the box.

With the liberty to maneuver into open spaces, Rodriguez reacts to the play in front of him. As we will see within the graphic below, he likes to drop within the build-up phase and snatch the ball from the centre-backs, especially against the aggressive, deep-lying defences of Paraguay and Costa Rica, who worked hard to shut down his preferred spaces in midfield in the primary two group matches.

In the 1-1 draw against Brazil, every little thing was more open, allowing him to penetrate dangerous areas in the suitable half-space, where he moved inside without hesitation and located his teammates. In these areas, his passes were consistently accurate to the centimeter.

One of his final contributions to his lock-picking practice against Brazil was to create the next likelihood for Cordoba from this very space.

With the time beyond regulation Lorenzo mentioned – which comes from running out wide to receive the pass – Rodriguez selects a superbly timed cross that hits the six-yard line, sails over the defenders and lands on his striker's head.

Seven of the 11 possibilities he has created for his teammates this tournament have come from set pieces, and together with his ability to guage the facility of his passes, it's easy to see why. There's something in regards to the way Rodriguez fires the ball home – the virtually leisurely way of sending it looping and turning towards goal, leaving it hanging within the air just long enough to hit the goalkeeper on his line – that makes any cross incredibly easy to attack.

In the disallowed 'equaliser', you may see how close Davinson Sanchez is to the goal when he touches the ball. The ball goes over the defensive position but isn’t too high for the goalkeeper to get to and win the ball.

Even after corner kicks, Rodriguez repeatedly brought the ball to the sting of the six-yard box. This time it was Cordoba who headed the ball over the bar.

The quality and consistency of those crosses is such that he runs to each Colombian set piece, irrespective of where on the pitch, and receives thunderous applause from the Colombian fans in the group.

Rodriguez may also change things up. At the beginning of the primary half against Brazil, he hit the crossbar with a dangerous free kick, the ball flew high and spun over the wall.

He also sent a shot from a square position towards Alisson's near post. He sauntered towards the ball, leaned back, suddenly closed his body and wrapped his foot across the ball, forcing the goalkeeper to step back and fire a spinning shot over the bar.

His left shoe has finesse and firepower.

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Whatever Lorenzo's resume suggests, Rodriguez is certainly not a low-intensity player. Only Brazilian defenseman Marquinhos had more touches last night on the San Francisco 49ers' Levi's Stadium, and the 4 tackles he made were bettered only by teammate Daniel Munoz.

Even though he has lost a little bit of pace and is preparing to show 33 in only over per week, Rodriguez's appetite for the national team keeps him moving.

“He is a player we have to cover closely,” said Brazil midfielder Bruno Guimaraes before the sport, “someone always has to keep an eye on him.”

Colombia is now unbeaten in 26 matches and goes into its quarterfinal against Panama on Saturday in Glendale, Arizona, as clear favorites to increase that tally to 27.

Rodriguez was the beating heart of that historic winning streak and offers the world a final glimpse into his galactic time at Real Madrid.

SANTA CLARA – Colombia coach Néstor Lorenzo urged his team to remain focused and energized in every physical and emotional moment against mighty Brazil – through two scorching halves and nearly one other 10 minutes of stoppage time.

“We all wanted to have our best moments in this game and I think we took another step forward,” said Lorenzo. “With Brazil, you can't be careless for a second.”

Daniel Muñoz scored the equalizer in first-half stoppage time and Colombia topped their Copa America first round group with a 1-1 draw against Brazil on Tuesday night, extending their unbeaten streak to 26 games.

Colombia goalkeeper Camilo Vargas saved Brazil's last probability within the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time when Andreas Pereira shot wide.

Colombia will play Panama within the quarterfinals on Saturday in Glendale, Arizona, while Brazil faces a seemingly tougher match against Uruguay later that evening in Las Vegas.

“It's a feeling of satisfaction to have played against such a strong opponent,” said Lorenzo. “Now we have to think about Panama.”

Los Cafeteros, who finished with seven points to Brazil's five, had two consecutive probabilities to attain within the 84th minute but were unable to capitalise.

Brazil took the lead within the twelfth minute when Raphinha fired a left-footed free kick into the highest right corner of the online, just over the outstretched hand of Vargas.

The Brazilian winger jumped and pumped his fist because the experienced Seleção struck first at Levi's Stadium, home of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers.

The players placed on an entertaining show within the Group D final, with Brazilian Bruno Guimarães describing Colombia as “a thorn in our side” ahead of Tuesday’s match.

The game, which was expected to be exciting and stuffed with fouls, greater than lived as much as expectations. There were five yellow cards and a sea of ​​the identical color jerseys representing each countries filled the seats – no less than when the fans finally got in. Some scanning machines got extremely popular and slowed down entry.

The match was attended by 70,971 spectators, and the 24 group stage matches were attended by 1,115,400 spectators, a mean of 46,475.

A heat warning was issued for the Bay Area, and the temperature at kickoff was 98 degrees—although about half of the sphere was in shade on one sideline.

The midfielder, who turns 33 on July 12, has provided three assists for Los Cafeteros on this tournament.

“It was like a final. It was a super exciting game,” he said. “It's so exciting to play against star players. That's the beauty of the whole thing. … We still have a lot of work to do and on Saturday we have to go out there and play very focused.”

Brazil, a team used to winning the championship at this tournament, faces a tougher road with out a win against Colombia.

The Seleção have won nine Copa titles and finished second within the 2021 tournament.

Colombia had already booked their place within the quarter-finals and are on a 26-match unbeaten streak – including a 5-1 win over the USA in a pre-tournament friendly – while Brazil were held to a 1-1 draw by the Americans in one other warm-up match 4 days later.

Colombia beat Brazil 2-1 in South American qualifying last 12 months. It was the primary meeting since three encounters in 2021, when Brazil beat Colombia 2-1 within the Copa America.

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