The U.S. men's national team side is facing Uruguay in its final group stage game at Copa America 2024. But fans are already frustrated — not by the play of the USMNT, but by the broadcast from Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium.
A damaging 2-1 defeat to Panama in the second group stage game in Atlanta left the United States in considerable danger of elimination and needing to generate an upset in this final game Monday night.
But in the early stages in the game, the result was not on the minds of fans watching from home. Instead, they were baffled by the camera angle on the broadcast. The Sporting News explains the situation.
LIVE: Updates, highlights from USA vs. Uruguay at Copa America 2024
USA vs. Uruguay: Why is the camera angle so high?
The lofty camera for the United States' match against Uruguay brought to mind the "All-22" NFL broadcast angle, which allows viewers to see all 22 players on an NFL field at once.
Per the official NFL operations website, this angle attempts to capture every player on the field in a single shot to provide better footage for coaches' tapes.
Arrowhead Stadium is the home of the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs and is not typically a soccer stadium. But it did host Lionel Messi and Inter Miami when they came to town to face Sporting KC back in April.
The camera angle that night was much lower, though, sparking further confusion from fans.
MESSI MAGIC AT ARROWHEAD STADIUM ✨
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 14, 2024
What. A. Strike. pic.twitter.com/E3ax584Nw9
At around the 40th minute of USA vs. Uruguay, the camera angle was changed to the one seen in the above video, much to the delight of those watching along.
The Athletic reported that FOX Sports producers were furious and 'immediately' recognized the problem. They also stated that sources said they made calls to Copa officials to help fix the problem.
Viewers were, however, quick to realize and criticize the broadcast and left some amusing comments on X (formerly Twitter).
I’m personally having a great time watching this USMNT-Uruguay game from the surface of the moon
— Ella Brockway (@ellabrockway) July 2, 2024
Copa America camera angle for USA vs. Uruguay pic.twitter.com/RzDSETJER8
— Will Kennedy (@ByWillKennedy) July 2, 2024
This camera angle for USMNT-Uruguay is making my head hurt pic.twitter.com/zJZsWYm8u5
— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) July 2, 2024
Not sure if we should be flattered or offended but to answer all of you at once: no, we are not covering the USMNT game tonight.
— Goodyear Blimp (@GoodyearBlimp) July 2, 2024
The Sporting News reached out to the main broadcaster, FOX, and they replied stating that the high camera angle is from the world feed provided by CONMEBOL.
MORE: Full schedule, bracket, results for Copa America 2024
Copa America 2024 schedule, format
The 2024 Copa America features 16 teams drawn into four groups of four teams each. The draw took place on Thursday, December 7, 2023 in Miami, Florida.
Competition began on June 20, 2024, with the opening group stage match from Atlanta, GA featuring defending champions Argentina against playoff winners Canada. The group stage now runs through July 2, with the top two finishers in each group advancing to the knockout stage, while the bottom two are eliminated.
The knockout stage will begin on July 4 with the quarterfinals, with a single-elimination bracket played through to conclusion. The lone exception will be a third-place match arranged for those defeated in the semifinal, contested the day before the final is played on July 14.
| Round | Dates |
| Group Stage | June 20 — July 2, 2024 |
| Quarterfinals | July 4-6, 2024 |
| Semifinals | July 9-10, 2024 |
| Third Place | July 13, 2024 |
| Final | July 14, 2024 |
