Firing USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter may be too little, too late

The U.S. Men's National Team needs a lot of change, and fast. But will firing coach Gregg Berhalter now be enough?

Crashing out of Copa America 2024 after losing 1-0 to Uruguay on Monday night may have left many American soccer fans feeling just as upset as when the U.S. failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup after losing 2-1 to Trinidad and Tobago in October 2017.

That was a major crossroad and opportunity for reflection, not just for the team but for U.S. Soccer as an organization. This is another such moment.

Berhalter took the coaching reigns from a disgraced Bruce Arena in 2018 and, with a refreshed USMNT player pool led by a maturing Christian Pulisic and fresh faces Weston McKinnie and Tyler Adams, was supposed to take the world by storm and prove America can be a true soccer nation.

What America got was mediocrity and token trophies for six years.

Firing Berhalter now may be too little too late in the high-stakes effort to be seriously competitive at the 2026 World Cup on North American soil. Fox Sports analyst and former USMNT player Alexi Lalas said it best during post-game coverage Monday night, "We can't afford to be embarrassed."