The U.S. men’s national team and Colombia will both take part in this summer’s Copa America, but first they will clash in preparation for the competition.
Gregg Berhalter’s squad will face off with Colombia on June 8 at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday. It will be the 21st all-time meeting between the two countries.
“As we continue to build toward this summer’s Copa America and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, we relish the challenge of competing against the best possible opponents and Colombia checks that box,” Berhalter said in a press conference. “
They have been a standout team in World Cup Qualifying and showcase some of the world’s top talent. We are thrilled to have the U.S. Men’s National Team back to FedExField and the DMV, a place with an incredible history of support for our team and for soccer overall,” he added.
Colombia is currently in third place in CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying with a 3-0-3 record. Los Cafeteros are riding a 19-match unbeaten run heading into the March international window.
The USMNT is set to return to action this March against Jamaica in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals. Should the Americans advance past the Reggae Boyz, they will face either Mexico or Panama in the tournament final on March 24.
In addition to Copa America involvement, the Americans will also compete in the Paris Summer Olympics from July 24-August 10. It is the first time since 2008 that the USMNT has qualified for the Olympics.
The 2024 Copa America will take place on American soil with Argentina heading into the tournament as defending champions.
personally wondering why we couldn’t line up a couple non-S Am teams since we’re gonna spend a month of that as it is.
also, rumor is 2 games, which plus group plus any knockouts starts to add up. one should suffice and really should be a tryout game for the last roster spots, not a full dress effort for very long.
Always rated far and away the worst NFL stadium. Yuck.
Good thing it won’t be an NFL game then I guess (my name is Master of Obvious)
The stadium is in a constant state of disrepair. The hot water in the locker rooms isn’t reliable and fans complain about miserable game day experiences.
Josh, I used to go to all the NFL games at the stadium. Traffic in and out of parking was horrible. I didn’t really notice the stadium not being nice until I went to a Ravens game and saw what their stadium was like. The big difference between that stadium and other NFL stadiums is that Jack Kent Cook paid to build Fed Ex as his legacy before he died and most other NFL stadiums were paid for by tax dollars, including the Ravens stadium. I’ve been to soccer games there and didn’t think it was bad. I wouldn’t skip attending just because of the stadium. As far as amenities for players, I have no idea about that.
This will be a good measure of where the USMNT is going into Copa America. A quick look at rosters and (gulp) FIFA rankings would show a pretty evenly matched game. The rosters both have players playing at high level teams in very good leagues. I’d give the edge to the US position by position – on paper at least. Forwards and midfield seem to tilt ever so slightly to the US. It’s defense where I see Colombia with a clear edge. I look forward to this match up.
Maybe … I see this game as quite similar to a WC tuneup where tactics will be pretty vanilla and most of the players will be trying to avoid injury. If Columbia comes out hacking people like Japan did in the pre world cup friendly, the game won’t likely be indicative of much. If both teams play with a mindset of not trying to injure the other team, it may be more indicative but I doubt that will happen. The two pre WC scrimmages the US had before Qatar were not indicative of how the US team played in the WC.
I can’t imagine any sane person seeing the USMNT as a favorite in this game. not that it matters.
Let’s say they’ve come up with a great scheme and it’s a revelation in training, why on earth would Gregg want to tip his hand on the eve of Copa America?
If I’m Gregg, I’m fielding JR’S C team
and telling them to have a good time.
True true…it’s a warm up game…I got a little excited. Actually my bigger point was that there is not much separating these teams on paper. I think expectations of the USMNT by fans on sites like this tend to be overblown. Colombia is a fine team. It’s not a World Cup threat though and I don’t think anyone here would argue that. Catch my drift?
MO Obvious,
The USMNT is 3-13-5 all-time vs. Colombia. They usually meet in friendlies which I maintain adds a great deal of nuance to efforts to evaluate the merits of either side.
At this writing in Colombia’s last 5 games they drew with Ecuador, beat Brazil, Paraguay Venezuela and Mexico. Brazil was a World Cup qualifier, Mexico was a friendly and I don’t know about the other three.
Depending on who they send and what their attitude is I rate the USMNT’s chances against Colombia as anywhere from no way in hell to we won’t embarrass ourselves. Right now I’m thinking Colombia is coming in here and will half ass it. Sometimes, that means they give their kids a chance but that is not always a good thing for Colombia’s opponents as sometimes the kids want to show off.
The more I think about it the more I want to see JR’s C team.
Ideally, by then Gregg will have worked out his team and tactics for Copa America and will use the game to give the fringe guys a chance to make an impression.
If he fields the A team and all out goes for it, I’d see that as a bad sign.
Vac, who is JR?
Oops. I figured it out. JohnnyRazor. I get it now.