American idiots? Did USMNT botch it with former Leeds boss Jesse Marsch?

The American Dream has been alive and well at the 2024 Copa America. And it’s been lived by Canada.

The South America championship held in the United States this summer was supposed to be where the USMNT would show their mettle against elite international competition ahead of a World Cup on home soil in two years’ time; where a so-called ‘Golden Generation’ of Europe-based talent would take the next crucial step in their development and prove they belong among the big hitters of the world game.

Instead, the States flopped out of the tournament at the group stage, losing to Panama and Uruguay to bring about a swift and embarrassing exit that has sparked structural and existential questions for US soccer to ponder with 2026 on the horizon. Should the coach be fired? Are these players really as good as previously believed? Can this mess be fixed in time for the World Cup?

Meanwhile it’s Canada, co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup alongside the US and Mexico, who reached the semi-finals, losing only to reigning champions Argentina. And they’ve been led by an American coach the States turned down last year.

Jesse Marsch interviewed for the then-vacant USMNT job in the months after the 2022 World Cup. He’d been sacked by Leeds United in February 2023, but with a still-intact reputation for being able to foster a positive working culture and install the kind of effective counter-pressing system espoused by the Red Bull-owned clubs with whom he’d made his name, he was keen to bounce quickly back into management by taking charge of the national team.

The United States Soccer Federation instead decided to re-appoint Gregg Berhalter, the man they were trying to replace after his contract had expired at the end of 2022. In an interview earlier this year, Marsch hinted that he was unhappy with how he’d been treated by the USSF during their recruitment process. In May, he accepted an offer to become Canada’s national team boss.

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In the 14 games he’s overseen since returning to the USMNT post in September, Berhalter’s record reads seven wins, six losses and one draw. After a Copa America campaign that began with a humbling 5-1 pre-tournament thrashing by Colombia and ended early thanks to the Panama and Uruguay defeats, there are widespread calls for the coach to be binned.

Had Marsch produced a similarly sketchy record in his short time at the Canadian helm, there would not have been such consternation. His first three games in charge saw Canada take on established powerhouses of the international game in France and the Netherlands in warm-up friendlies before kicking off their Copa against 2022 World Cup winners Argentina.

A 4-0 loss to the Dutch on June 6 was a less-than-ideal start, but a credible goalless draw with France three days later showed signs of the success to come. Even in a 2-0 defeat to Argentina, the Canadians disrupted the flow of Messi and co. with a defensive rigidity that is quickly becoming their hallmark. A 1-0 win over Peru and a 0-0 draw with Chile allowed them to unexpectedly progress from their group.

In the quarter-finals, a clash with a flying Venezuela side – who’d topped their group on maximum points and had scored six goals while conceding only one – was where Canada’s unlikely run was supposed to end. They’d have exited with plenty of credit in the bank, too. Getting out of a tough group and putting up a spirited fight against Argentina would have been a fine showing for the lowest ranked of the three 2026 World Cup host nations.

But Canada’s resolute rear-guard was once again their trump card. They progressed on penalties after a 1-1 draw, setting up a semi-final rematch with Messi and Argentina on Tuesday night.

Canada are far from the finished product under Marsch, and the manager knows it. For instance, despite a commitment to fast, direct attacking play, they scored only two goals at the Copa America. But even accepting their deficiencies and the work still to be done, they have provided clear evidence of what can be achieved in international football with cohesive coaching and a collective spirit.

“We’re trying to find ways to be more proficient in our attack, and we’re trying to continue to be a well-rounded team,” Marsch told Fox Sports. “But I think there’s been real discipline, I think there’s been real belief and excitement about what we’re doing as a team. We still have so far to go to become the team that I really want us to be, but what I’ve learned is that you can implement a style on a national team, and if you’re precise about the details, and you implement things step by step, and you’re careful about how you instruct the team what you want to be and how you’re going to get there, then you can have success with it.

“It also is a statement about these players. Their smarts, their desire to learn, their desire to achieve and become the kind of team that we are trying to build here is at a really high level and in a one-month time period, we’ve come a long way together.”

Their presence among the Copa America’s last four should not be seen as a heralding of Canada’s arrival as major players on the international scene. They are, after all, currently 48th in the FIFA World Rankings, a full 24 spots behind the next-lowest-ranked semi-finalists, Uruguay. What they’ve achieved as guests in the South American championship will inevitably raise expectations for 2026, but more than anything it should foster hope for how – in the right circumstances, with luck breaking their way – a talented yet limited group of players can punch significantly above their weight.

The context of how Canada’s Copa campaign has differed so greatly from the USMMT’s performances at the tournament is inescapable. As both nations hatch plans for the next World Cup, the US would be well served to look north of the border for inspiration.

“I would love to say I’m just focused on what we’re doing here in Canada, but obviously, I’m paying attention, as always, to the U.S. men’s national team and I’m sad,” Marsch said. “I’m disappointed by the performances, by the lack of discipline. There’s a lot of things that I think we’ve tried to be about, about the game in the US, and we’ve always believed in this group of players.

“Because I’m not there every day, I don’t have my finger on the pulse of exactly what’s going on but, certainly, it’s not what we had expected before this tournament. And somehow, they’ve got to come up with solutions.”

Marsch might have been the man to provide those solutions for the USMNT. He’s certainly struck upon a formula that fits Canada.

MORE ON COPA AMERICA FROM F365:
👉 Marcelo Bielsa marrying his risk-rich vision with traditional Uruguay cynicism
👉 Pulisic fails and USMNT dumped out of Copa America; Berhalter must be sacked this time
👉 Copa America power rankings: Transformed Darwin Nunez takes Uruguay top