Drone Spotted Over USMNT Training Before Gold Cup Semifinal vs Guatemala

An unidentified drone was observed flying over the U.S. men`s national soccer team`s training session in St. Louis on Tuesday. The team is in St. Louis to prepare for their Concacaf Gold Cup semifinal match against Guatemala on Wednesday.

According to ESPN, U.S. Soccer personnel are working to identify the owner of the drone. While the USMNT uses three of their own drones for filming practices, this fourth drone was unexpected. It reportedly landed outside the training area`s fence, close to a broadcasting facility.

This was not the only disruption on Tuesday. Reports indicate that a separate group of individuals was found filming the team and asked to cease. It is presently unknown whether these two incidents are connected.

The USMNT is set to play Guatemala in the Gold Cup semifinals at Energizer Park in St. Louis on Wednesday. The American team aims to reach the final for the first time since their victory in 2021. Guatemala, on the other hand, is participating in their first Gold Cup semifinal since 1996 and hopes to advance to the final for the first time ever.

Drones: An Unexpected Feature in Concacaf

Although teams increasingly utilize drones for their own training analysis, there have been past instances of North American teams allegedly using drones to spy on competitors.

The most prominent example is the “Canada drone scandal” from the 2024 Olympics. This incident resulted in FIFA deducting six points from the Canadian women`s national team and led to the dismissal of head coach Bev Priestman. According to various reports, the practice of using drones to observe opposing teams` training had been ongoing for several years, reportedly introduced by John Herdman during his tenure as head coach for both the men`s and women`s Canadian national teams (2011-2018). TSN specifically reported that Herdman was heard discussing this practice as early as 2016 during the Concacaf U-17 Women`s Championship.

Following a disciplinary hearing before an independent commission, Herdman received a formal written reprimand in May.