‘EMBARRASSING!’ Was hosting the Copa América in the USA a failure? | ESPN FC 

I was there …. The organization was a disaster from the start … you could see it even getting there …. No guide lines no filter perimeters … they thought it was a Tuesday night scrimmage game ….

Ticket prices for the sporting events in the 🇺🇸 is getting out of hand

I went to Argentina vs Peru in Miami and after what I saw, I knew the final game was going to be a mess. For the game I went to, there was Zero police presence in the street managing traffic. Instead, it seemed like a cheap contractor was hired to manage traffic and they were clueless. They would leave traffic lights red for 10-20 minutes straight, and when it came time to leave, we were stuck in the parking lot for 3 hours not being able to move an inch. Even churches hire police officers to manage traffic outside. Hard Rock allowed conmebol to cut corners and pocket all the money. It is the fault of the greediness of conmebol and the fault of everyone like hard rock who were happy to take their cut and pass the blame to someone else.

What is embarrassing are people in their thousands trying break into a stadium when they do not have ticket.

Let’s talk about the ref technology too. No Goal Line tech or Auto Offsides?!?! It’s 2024…

Conmebol shifting the blame like always.

Also, I love how they leave out the fact the Colombian federations president got arrested with his son in Miami at the game.

Herc Gomez is the only soccer head on ESPN worth listening to. No one wants to replay what Bielsa said because he said it in Spanish but what he said was born out in the final. Jesse Marsch was right. This was not a professionally run tournament and Hardrock is at fault as is Conmebol.

American sporting events are fundamentally different from football in other countries. I just dont think the US understands that.

Having a 25minute half time instead of a 15min one just so they could superbowl it up & have Shakira sing = failure.... All the other stuff makes it even worse. You just know theye gonna try that 25min nonsense for the World Cup as well.

Complete and utter failure, in every aspect possible. 25 minute half time is a ridiculous decision just to allow more time for sponsor advertising. $$$ rules.

What about this Columbian and Conmebol soccer president that was arrested for attacking event staff while children tried to pull them back.

Herc called those people deplorables😂😂 😂

7000 people went in free 7000 people left out who actually paid

I remember when uefa tried to blame Liverpool fans with no tickets for issues with crowd control at the champions league final, it’s always easy to blame fans who are just a group of nameless voiceless people. It’s only because Liverpool fans called it out as lies that the truth came out. You have to pre check tickets en route into stadium it’s basic crowd control

Most of the problems here were because of Conmebol, not US soccer.

En Argentina en cualquier partido hay al menos dos o tres anillos de seguridad por los que los espectadores tienen que pasar antes de llegar a los molinetes

Never let COMEBOL or another region take point in hosting these tournaments in the USA. They are always going to cut corners to make more money since they can't make this $$$ in their regions.

They should have canceled the game and reschedule.

What these 3 gentlemen fail to acknowledge is that Marcelo Bielsa was exactly right in his declarations after the Uruguay v Colombia game. Conmebol, and anyone associated with the organization of this Copa America, were a complete and utter failure. Security for the fans outside and inside the Stadiums was a failure. The majority of the fields were unacceptable; several of them did not comply with the dimensions of the fields games are played throughout the world. The fields provided to the different teams for training and practice were awful for several of the teams. The weather conditions under which some games were played in stadiums without roofs and AC were inappropriate. FIFA, Conmebol, Concacaf, they are all a bunch of crooks caring only in making money and pursuing their powerful interests. Everything, EVERYTHING, Bielsa said was absolutely true. And yet, just wait, I am sure the corresponding authorities will sanction Bielsa, his players and the AUF, for the occurrences after their game and subsequent declarations. No one has yet apologized to the Uruguayan players for allowing their families to be in danger; no one entity has yet assumed responsibility for the lack of security provided to this group of family members. As Bielsa said, these are all a bunch of liars. Wonder why none of these gentlemen addressed Bielsa’s accusations, and the warnings Uruguayan players made as to the dangers for future matches in terms of the security of the fans; could it be that, like Bielsa also said, a good percentage of the Press is bought and paid for or are afraid to say something the authorities may dislike. This country is evidently not prepared to host a World Cup in 2 years. It would start with the acknowledgement of the authorities involved of their clear failures.

The whole notion of going to a stadium to try to steal a seat and somebody else's money is beyond my comprehension. It is not about passion for soccer, or that this is the USA, not LATAM, Europe, blah, blah, blah. Not only that, many fans destroyed facilities, pushed children, got people hurt, got beaten by the cops. Is that "passion" for the sport too?

It was the Columbian fans for the most part. They haven’t been to a final in many years, and they also had the chaos in the semis vs Uruguay too. With the addition of having Karol G, Maluma, and Shakira. I felt that they really wanted to push a Columbian win, but Argentina had the experience.

and then they critique Qatar 😂😂😂😂

I had never seen anything like this in the US. The US has hosted Super Bowls, World Cups, Olympics. What caught the stadium off guard? I heard people arrived 3 hours early and still had issues entering. I feel bad for everyone that was hurt, the organizers owe the fans some kind of an apology. A couple of years ago I went to a F1 event in Indianapolis, a disaster. Weeks later I received an apology letter plus the option to free tickets if I wanted to go back the following year. The greed!!!! We all know tickets were at $1500 and up, how is that acceptable? Anyway, people need to be apologized too.

I didn't have a ticket either, so I chose to watch the game on TV. Who in the right mind goes to a game without a ticket, thinking that somehow they're going to get in? 🤔

These Colombian fans hexed their team with this abhorrent behavior.

Good on Herc for calling out the fans. No one is talking about how those ppl had to think about going there without tickets with intent to go in. Delinquent behavior. Embarrassing.

Not having heavy security was the significant problem

3:30 if it was 7000 without ticket, 6900 were Colombian. Mainstream media needs to be more specific with this

The problem was Conmebol. I heard fifa has different safety protocols and regulations

Even the fields where smaller than normal. Bielsa was right not just conmebol but concacaf and the USA organisation were a desaster.

i mean in this case i wouldn’t even say it’s the U.S’s fault the colombians were just crazy😂😂

Weak security protocols from Conmebol/Hard rock stadium + ultra euphoric and proud fans from both sides = the 💩 show that unfolded before our eyes

I don’t think there was enough blame towards the fans. I completely agree. Deplorable!!

First and foremost, before anyone judges me, I happen to be Colombian. The failure it's on the attendees part, mainly the "Yellow Shirts", but we have become such a "Walk on eggshells" culture here in the US, that maybe I, with my ethnicity and background, I'm one of the few that qualifies to tell it like it is and will not be judged (Doubtful) !. The "Yellow shirts" behaved like they behave back home, because well, it's the normalcy of a third world country, anyone who had visited can concur it meets the stereotype. And it wasn't a few of them, it was almost all the "Yellow shirts" and giveth, also a few, very few "White and Blue Shirts". I took my mother to the doctor this morning, and she told me it was all Argentinians dressed up as Colombians, she told me all about it, because in her Direct TV plan apparently she has access to Colombian TV and they were trying to sell that, ergo she was trying to sell that to me. A culture of no consequence that still worships Pablo Escobar, and see anything that anyone else feels it's wrong, like normal behavior, and they will try to justify it. I'm former Military, Current Law Enforcement, and when I hear "Non sense" arguments like this one, I get very aggravated fairly quickly. It was the longest 8 minutes of my existence, driving her to that appointment. They didn't win because Argentina played better, they behaved like what they are and we have to acknowledge that and try to correct it.; I'm thinking 4 generations from now, we will be able to attend and not destroy private property just because "We" didn't win a silly sport's tournament. ........And scene ! 🤘

The DT of Bolivia Zago was the firts to talk about it his Bolivian team had 7 good players who were told to stay in Bolivia and 1 was send back they had a bad hotel poor food no field to practice the field was full of watter mosquitos holes the DT said they would not let the players get hurt. They had to drive around looking for a school where they had to pay to practice. The 3 players were bench against the US and all the teams Bolivia was use for a safe pass. The DT of Argentina complain about the sintetic grass over playwood all football players from every team should play in a better field specially when the dimentions are not as it should be 4 meters larger in every side.. Conmebol had a contract with Rock Stadium and told them what was need it The answer was that we knew what we were doing. My sons couldn't get to the game 2,000 dollars each ticket plus the fight from DC to Miami the hotel. They were there for 5 hours by the time they got to the stadium the stadium was already full of people. No one at the scanning are to explain where they need it to go. Ana Argentinian family paid 16,000 dollars for a falco for the family, others 10,000 4,000 no gurds no police officers until 1 hour later. No air conditioning in the area like Catar had since the US is supposed to be the 1sr world we expected to be like Catar and it was not at all. The police tokd people with tickets to go home and when they show their tickets the answer was not my problem. 108 years of Copa America never had such a bad situation. In Brasil Messi was able to step out until the cullpris were taking out. The game should have been cancelled but they were force to play. Fifa gate purchase the rifht for Copa America no one is South America agrees with that it is a South American copa. And it should go back to South Anerica. Fifa gate jail all the conmebol presidents to put 10 puppets in hatge who get pay 44,000 dollars a month plus 25,000 dollars a month and other loyalties they get. The US is making millions with South American football. Now the world cup will be boycot just like the US boycot Catar there is a huge reason for this boycot the complicity to the genocide of Palestinian people and fuiling war against Rusia. Juky 25l4 there is a huge protest in the US and it is broadcast world wide. People do not want the world cup in the US. This is bad for all of us.

I blame fans for acting like animals

The problem is the culture. Some cultures handle not having tickets better than others.

This was an embarrassment for every Football-Soccer lover that respects the game and culture of the game! There are so many people that should be held accountable for the actions happening in this final and the whole Copa America! The problem started with CONMEBOL trying to just make profit! profit! and not have the proper logistics to make this not only safe and great cup! The ticket prices were so SUPER HIGH from the beginning and CONMEBOL just let sport event ticket brokers buy all tickets and not have cap on ticket price so that fans can buy tickets! there were empty seat throughout many of the 1st round of games..... which was ridicules if one is trying to promote the Sport in the USA. So I was not surprised to see what happen in the final. I am sad and frustrated because as a Latino, parent, youth Coach, and promoter of Football-Soccer growth in the USA this is a step backwards in the growth, value and respect of the sport in the USA

Its as simple as a queueing system! They have them at F1 and Dolphins games. Why would you expect single point of entry for 70k+ would work? The failure has a simple solution…

WHY did they added halftime show whts goin on this is football not nfl us is soo embaressing🤣

The 2 key words here "In Miami"

The worst quality copa America as well. The smaller pitches made it too tight and scrappy and the bad pitches also

Yes but it’s because of who’s in charge of copa. Ref’s were terrible also.

Ticketless fans has always been an issue but there's a simple solution. For decades now FIFA and the Euros have fanzones (large open spaces) all around the city inviting well over 50,000 ticketless fans the opportunity to watch the match on a huge screen in a great atmosphere. Also the England- Wembley comparison is a little unfair. The only reason why English fans tried to break into Wembley was because they know that due to covid restrictions there would be 20,000 empty seats inside the stadium. When a match is sold out Europeans will always prefer to attend a fanzone instead of trying to break into a full stadium. Beside security is massive at big football events.

Question to south american supporters: didn’t you find the idea of hosting an half time show offensive to soccer traditions? I mean, if you are an Argentinian or Colombian at the stadium do you really give xxxx about it?

It is wild to blame anyone except the ones who chose to force their way in without a ticket.

Don’t invite Colombia , bothe disaster involve them

They forgot to mention the officiating as well. These officials lost control of numerous games, resulting in countless yellows. Conmebol had no business running a tournament in the US.

Tournament was an embarrassing joke.

Pretty sure it was just the Colombian fans in every problematic situation

The U.S. should not host FOOTBALL tournaments. They do not understand or accept the importance/magnitude of the sport at the international level and are not well-equipped. This event was underestimated. This will happen again in 2026. Now I'm rethinking attending the world cup live.

Stop covering up the organizers’ failure 😡

They needed border patrol at the game 😂

If they are charging thousands $ for a seat, then i totally understand the fans rushing the gate to get in. That is ridiculous for them to charge that much.

This isn’t just a CONMEBOL issue. These people who host events want to cut corners and skimp on security. I went to the club America preseason game in the US and they only had six police officers on the field and obviously fans rushed the field.

I can tell you that whenever a European country host a WC or the Euros, the whole country feels responsible for it being successful. There would never be blame shifting to FIFA or UEFA because other than extorting money from everybody and managing the games they wouldn’t be in charge of anything.

Americans don't understand this game that's why they ain't getting anywhere ,the ticket prices ..the formats ,the ego man is too much

Why aren'y you talking about CONMEBOL censoring journalists and coaches?

I attended the friendly international between Mexico and Australia back in September 2023 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas and not once did anyone check my tickets which I found strange. The official attendance was around 55,000 and I swear there was a lot more. I heard a lot of fans went in without tickets.

They just don't understand what soccer is. That's why they weren't ready

tell the fans to not act like dummies and everything will be fine 🤷

How was there not even 1 employee at the gate. They looked like they've never hosted an event at this stadium. Embarrassing & upset at how the fans managed the stadium.

Why didn't the Fire Department Chief cancel the game due to safety violations?

What a embarrassment. Doesn’t matter who’s hosting the tournament it’s on American soil

The US hosted the WorldCup in 1994, where there any incidents like this?

shouldn't have had the final at the awful stadium. this is the management of that place. ridiculous.

Organizers are more concerned about making money than about the providing an appropriate space for the actual game and about ensuring the safety of the players and fans.

I have zero worries about WC26.

mostly Colombian fans.

25 halftime is absolutely ridiculous. I hope never seen again something like that

The security, the size of the fields, the conditions of the grass, the players warm up twice for the final, and on top, they had half an hour break ... This is what happens when money is more important than anything ...

I think part of the problem are the foreigners who seem to have a particular affinity for illegal entry.

Alexis Nunes is just beautiful.

Is anybody aware of what happened in London at the Eurocup final three years ago?

Same happened in Wembley stadium when England plaued against italy in the final.

The real criminals were the staff and organizers. Not opening the gates on time, no lines for fans to go in for entry is what caused the chaos, it was over 100degrees and people were passing out due to the heat, they would not allow fans to get into the stadium which caused the chaos. Fans had enough of waiting and took action. Yes there were a few knuckleheads but overall it was the staff and organizers fault for the chaos. Also, charging $13 for water in 100degree weather was absolutely criminal.

There are deplorables everywhere, the organizers fail to secure the venue

All those fans running through the gates like they're crossing the border.

I’m glad you all talked about the price of the tickets, in my opinion the problems started there…

You can see how delusional these "experts" are: No, the Worldcup 1994 was not good, it was MAYBE a financial success, but that Worldcup sucked for the fans, the sport and was disapointing. It's not about money, it's about football and passion. US americans should stay away from that beautiful sport, they will never get "it".

Shameful..Absolutely Shameful. Looked like a war zone out there.

The US should not hold the next world cup after this mayhem. FiFA should rethink and take a bold decision and cancel the venue.

Don't the dolphins and inter Miami host games almost every other weekend without this issue?

Classless fans. There’s no other explanation.

That happened in Colombia except they sold doubles of tickets. People that paid good money for the tickets got their seats stolen the security didn't do anything about it.

Not to mention the state of the grass at some fields, horrible!

The average ticket price was 4,000$ what did they think would happen?

CONMEBOL and CONCACAF trying to save money - as always - by cutting cost on important tournament aspects.

And one more thing, the fields were a disaster. All the teams complained about it

They need to stop looking back at the 1994 and 1999 World Cups it’s a different world and the crowds going to these games have much less respect. Look at the videos it’s pretty clear

Regarding the empty seats, the ticket prices were too high. Unless your country was playing, there was no reason for you to pay $200+ for nosebleeds

South American football culture is aggressive asf . Not surprised but it still is embarrassing

Basically the Americans thought organising a real football event was like organising their crappy Super Bowl and learned a lesson that real football is another level in terms of passion than their unauthentic overly commercial sports. They are not customers, they are passionate followers in real football.

All that and you forgot to mention the fixed qualification that ensured Argentina in a 'Miamessi' final. When the winner of A1xB2 plays B1xA2 winners and then Brasil and Columbia potentially face each other twice in less than a week, Joke! A real tournament will always mean only to first round teams can meet in the final when 16/32 teams are involved. FIX! $$$ first everyone in the States is embarrassed now!

Im sorry but the Fans are the problems.

Messi : 1 WC, 2 Copa 🐐💪🔥

If any of the major parties here openly admits to their own mistakes, lawsuits will be filed quickly.

Security is the responsability of the venue event i was left outside holding 2 tickets as animals just run in

Even worse was the condition of the pitches with grass over turf and the minimal playing size of the fields. Ridiculous in the richest country in the world!