It was an American horror story of epic proportions for the U.S. Men’s National Team on Tuesday night in their Gold Cup send-off match, as the club was booed off the field in Nashville, Tenn., during their 4-0 loss to Switzerland.
The Americans didn’t field their best lineup, but the ugly showing right before a major international tournament had U.S. soccer fans upset as the club walked off the field at halftime down by four goals and then again when the final whistle blew at the end of the match.
The displeasure was audible on the TNT broadcast of the friendly match, and by the end, with large swaths of the 30,000-seat capacity Geodis Park visibly empty, it was apparent how upset U.S. soccer fans were.
The loss was the fourth straight for the USMNT and put them on their longest losing streak since 2007. And to make matters worse, the four goals conceded in the first half were the most they’ve given up in more than 40 years.
“The first half was not good enough by any of our standards,” center back Walker Zimmerman told TNT Sports following the match. “That’s the disappointing thing, is we talked a lot about how we could compete, how we can believe in each other, how we can keep pushing. Take pride and we just fell short on all those aspects in the first half.”
He added: “It’s disappointing, but at the same time, we know that we have a tournament ahead of us where these games are going to be coming quick and fast and our only option is to build on those.”
The loss was another knock against the American squad that is facing plenty of challenges going into the Gold Cup tournament, and is a year away from the start of the 2026 World Cup, which will take place in North America.
The USMNT has gone 5-5 since new head coach Mauricio Pochettino took over in September of last year, and he’ll face plenty of questions if the United States doesn’t come together during the Gold Cup.
