The United States‘ elimination from the Gold Cup last week represented a checkpoint of sorts. For most of the year, various iterations of the team gathered in the wake of the FIFA World Cup with a pair of interim coaches and a hazy understanding of how the team would be shepherded forward.
It wasn’t an ideal way to begin the new World Cup cycle ahead of the tournament’s return to home soil in 2026, but the past seven months always figured to be mostly inconsequential regardless of who was roaming the sidelines.
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The quick recap is this: After coach Gregg Berhalter’s contract was not renewed and then expired Dec. 31, his assistant, Anthony Hudson, guided the team through a pair of January friendlies (vs. Serbia and Colombia), two CONCACAF Nations League group stage matches (vs. Grenada and El Salvador), and a friendly against Mexico. When he departed to take a job in Qatar, the baton was passed to B.J. Callaghan, who coached the team to wins in the Nations League semifinals and final (vs. Mexico and Canada respectively) and through five games at the Gold Cup — even after Berhalter was rehired June 17 — in which the team was knocked out by Panama in the semifinals.
In total, the U.S. won six games, drew five and lost once (twice if we include going out to Panama on penalties). They outscored their opponents 31-8 and 53 players earned at least one cap.
For the most part, Berhalter’s two former assistants also kept the status quo. There were the natural tweaks that come with different opponents and rosters, but the style and player selection was all very familiar.
Here’s a look back at the past several months, and some things to watch in the coming months:
Welcome, Balo
Without question, the most important development since the World Cup came when Folarin Balogun, the New York-born and England-raised striker pledged his international future to the USMNT. Striker was the team’s glaring weakness throughout World Cup qualifying and in Qatar, and Balogun’s arrival immediately transforms the attack. He scored 22 goals across all competitions on loan from Arsenal with French side Stade de Reims last year — he was fourth in the Ligue 1 goalscoring standings — and at 22 years old has potential to develop into a global star.
Though he’s played only two games in red, white and blue, his appearances in the Nations League against Mexico in Canada provided an exciting glimpse into what’s to come.
Where should Gio Reyna play?
Callaghan’s most significant divergence from Berhalter was in how he used Reyna. Except for a 15-minute stint as striker against the Netherlands in the World Cup, Reyna was used exclusively on the wing under Berhalter. He had some freedom to roam, but he was not a central, attacking midfielder. That changed in the Nations League to great effect, when Callaghan shifted Reyna centrally and played him ahead of two midfielders (Yunus Musah and Weston McKennie, and Musah and Brenden Aaronson). There are multiple factors in play here, but Reyna in that spot — with Balogun up top — made the team look more dangerous than at any point in several years.
Having Reyna move inside forces some difficult decisions, namely what to do with the celebrated “MMA” (“Musah, McKennie, Adams) midfield? The group worked well together in Qatar, but collectively it was lacking in the final third. This calls for experimentation in the fall.
With Reyna, there’s also the elephant in the room that needs to be accounted for. Berhalter acknowledged in his re-introductory press conference that there was “work to do” in repairing his relationship with Reyna after the embarrassing family drama involving them played out after the World Cup. It’s going to remain a topic until both of them indicate they’ve cleared the air.
