Referee Snubbed Handshake With USMNT’s Christian Pulisic After USA Loss to Uruguay

Kristen Wong | Jul 2, 2024

Screengrab on Twitter/ @FoxSoccer

The United States men’s national soccer team had no one to blame but themselves after getting knocked out of the Copa America Monday night, but the referee from the match certainly wasn’t doing them any favors.

In the 1-0 group stage loss to Uruguay, head referee Kevin Ortega made a handful of questionable calls against the U.S., including an errant yellow card issued to USMNT’s Tyler Adams and a late whistle to stifle a U.S. counterattack in the first half.

Following the final whistle, Ortega then appeared to refuse to shake USMNT star Christian Pulisic’s hand.

An official refused to shake Pulisic's hand after the match pic.twitter.com/lurToJchMC

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 2, 2024

Cameras caught Pulisic seemingly gesturing to Ortega to celebrate with Uruguay just moments prior, which would explain Ortega’s reluctance to shake hands with a player who was blatantly disrespecting him. 

Though Pulisic’s outward disdain toward Ortega was far from classy, Ortega looked out of his depth during several crucial moments of the match. The most egregious call came in the 32nd minute, when USMNT defender Chris Richards fouled a Uruguay player in his defensive half. As Ortega was pulling out a yellow card for Richards, Uruguay tried to play a quick free kick, and Ortega bafflingly allowed play to continue. Per the rulebook, the game is usually paused when a yellow card is being issued so the referee can record the booking. 

The U.S. conceded the lone goal of the match in the 66th minute off a Uruguay free kick, which was ultimately awarded after a lengthy and controversial VAR check for offsides. The U.S. suffered a 2-1 loss to Panama earlier in the tournament and would have needed to beat Uruguay to advance to the knockout stages.