KANSAS CITY, Mo. — U.S. captain Christian Pulisic was clear that he did not think the refereeing was to blame for his team’s group-stage exit from the Copa America, but he was puzzled by the decisions made in Monday’s 1-0 loss to Uruguay at Arrowhead Stadium, a result that sealed the Americans’ fate.
“Honestly, I mean I saw things in front of my eyes today that I’ve never seen before and I don’t really believe it,” Pulisic told reporters. “That’s not why we lost; we’re not out of the tournament because of the refereeing.”
“But really, I’ve just seen things that I can’t really accept — I mean, I think everyone can admit that I don’t know what I’m seeing. I don’t know what they call it. I don’t know what it does — it doesn’t offer any explanation. It does things that I can’t accept at all.”
Referee Kevin Ortega was seen on camera refusing to shake Pulisic’s hand after the final whistle, after Pulisic appeared to gesture to him first from a distance.
“He didn’t shake my hand. It’s normal, I mean, that’s what I thought.”
Uruguayan defender Matias Olivera scored the only goal of the game in the 66th minute. Olivera appeared to be offside when he touched the ball, but a lengthy VAR review confirmed the goal without sending Ortega to the video monitor. Television replays showed an unclear amount of overlap between Olivera’s body and the foot of U.S. defender Chris Richards, who appeared to have blocked the Uruguayan’s offside.
“It’s really crazy,” USA coach Gregg Berhalter said of the decision. “I don’t understand it. You know, I feel like I know the rule very well. I feel like we got the pictures that show how the rule could be interpreted and it’s an offside goal. It’s disappointing, it really is, but you know, it happens in soccer and we have to live with it, obviously.”
There were several controversial incidents during the match, but the strangest off-target moment came in the 32nd minute, when Ortega showed Richards a yellow card. Uruguay went to take a free kick quickly, and before fully extending his arm to raise the yellow card, Ortega raised his other arm to signal “play on”. Nahitan Nandez was in the back of the goal but mishit the ball.
The game is usually stopped when a yellow card is shown so the referee can record the yellow card. Several U.S. players got into a fight with Ortega after the game. Adams said after the game that it was “the first time I’ve ever seen” such an incident.
The 1-0 loss, coupled with Panama’s 3-1 win over Bolivia in a simultaneous match, left the United States third in the group. It was the first time the United States had failed to advance from the group stage of a Copa America, Gold Cup or World Cup tournament on home soil. The United States will co-host the 2026 World Cup.
