ATLANTA -- Coming into the 2024 Copa América, the U.S. men's national team was supposed to show growth following its solid showing at the 2022 World Cup. It was supposed to have matured. It was supposed to take the next step towards moving into the world's elite.
But on Thursday, the U.S. not only showed it still has a long way to go, but it took a massive step backward, suffering a 2-1 defeat to Panama that severely damaged its hopes of reaching the Copa América knockout rounds.