USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter's future uncertain after disastrous Copa América group stage exit

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The line of questioning was inevitable. Following the first-ever group stage exit of a Copa América host, ashen-faced U.S. men's national team coach Gregg Berhalter stepped to the podium in the aftermath of Monday's tournament-ending 1-0 loss to Uruguay and was asked bluntly if he believes he's the right person to lead the Americans into the World Cup on home soil two years from now.

"Yes," Berhalter said.

That decision isn't up to him. Less than a year after the 50-year-old who qualified the USMNT for the 2022 World Cup and reached the second round with the youngest starting lineup of any participant in Qatar retook the reigns of the national team, Berhalter's future at the helm of the squad is now very much in doubt.

"Our tournament performance fell short of our expectations," Berhalter's boss and U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker said in a statement sent to FOX Sports and other outlets about 90 minutes after the defeat. "We must do better. We will be conducting a comprehensive review of our performance in Copa América and how best to improve the team and results as we look towards the 2026 World Cup."

Crocker's words were similar to the ones he offered last summer after the defending World Cup champion U.S. women's national team suffered their earliest ever exit from that competition. A week or so later, the federation announced that it had "mutually parted ways" with USWNT boss Vlatko Andonovski.

Let's be real: Andonovski was fired. And as far as many American fans are concerned, Berhalter should face an identical fate. The cold hard reality of top-level soccer is that it's a results business, and when a team fails spectacularly on the global stage as the women did last year and the men