Win or go home for USA vs. Uruguay at Copa America: "Game of our lives" needed to save USMNT from elimination

A damaging defeat to Panama in the second group match of the 2024 Copa America has left the United States in a dire situation.

Instead of securing a knockout stage place in Atlanta, which they could have done with a victory, the 2-1 loss leaves them essentially requiring a victory against Uruguay to advance to the quarterfinals. A draw could potentially see the U.S. qualify, but only if Panama go on to drop points against Bolivia, a result which few would be expecting.

The U.S. were hoping to display growth this summer, knowing the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be played on home soil in two years. Head coach Gregg Berhalter has made it clear their goal is to put themselves in the best position to play well in that competition, so a positive showing this summer would go a long way towards that.

Instead, they're on the precipice of elimination far earlier than expected, and the USMNT players know what's at stake for them to remain alive in the Copa America.

MORE: Breaking down all the scenarios for the USMNT to advance to the knockout round against Uruguay

Last time USA was eliminated in group stage of Copa America

The United States has been invited to participate in the Copa America four previous times.

While they have reached the semifinals twice, finishing fourth both times, they've also been eliminated in the group stage twice before, the last coming in 2007 when they finished bottom of Group C behind Argentina, Paraguay, and Colombia after being defeated in all three games.

USA will need to play "game of our lives" to beat Uruguay

The U.S. players now know the position they're in against Uruguay, knowing they will likely need to win to advance. With Panama expected to defeat Bolivia in their final match, it would leave the U.S. needing to get three points against Uruguay and keep their goal differential advantage as well.

Christian Pulisic has played in big games in his career before, winning a Champions League with Chelsea, and so he didn't feel phased by the situation.

"I don't feel pressure for it," Pulisic said. "Just like every game, if a win against Uruguay is what we need, then that's what we have to go do. We're privileged to be in this position to have this opportunity to represent our country, I feel lucky to go into games like that, so I'm excited.

"We have to go and represent our country with passion and pride, and we have to go play the best game of our lives. And that's it, if we want to go and win and continue in this competition."

When asked if it feels like they're in the knockout round now, Pulisic thought for a moment, nodded his head, and said, "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Veteran center-back Tim Ream felt similarly. When asked what the big picture looks like moving forward, he put it in simple terms. "Big picture is we have to win," Ream said. "A win we know is pretty much a guarantee to go through, and that's our mindset. We can't rely on other results, we have to rely on ourselves to get a win and that's what it boils down to. We know where we're at, we know what we have to do, and we're going to go out and try to do that."

Ream believes they can tap into his experience from a similar situation against Iran in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, a game which the U.S. also had to get a positive result to advance to the knockout stage.

"Yeah, I think it's a good experience to draw on," Ream said. "It's a must-win game, a very different opponent, but it's basically, like we said then, a knockout game a round early, a game early. We can look on that and look into the effort we put into that one to get a result and move on."