And It All Ends With a Whimper as Belgium ends the USMNT World Cup Run

The USMNT walked into Lumen Field in Seattle on Monday, July 6, carrying the hopes of a country that had finally fallen in love with this team. Belgium sent all of that hope home. The Red Devils beat our national team 4-1 in the round of 16, and the result closed out a home World Cup run that had pushed American soccer further into the mainstream than it had ever gone before.

Balogun’s suspension became the story before kickoff

The buildup felt more like a legal hearing than a soccer game. Folarin Balogun had picked up a red card and a one-game ban in the round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, which should have kept him on the bench against Belgium. Then, President Donald Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino and asked for a review, and FIFA lifted the suspension a few days later. Trump told reporters he did not even think the challenge was a foul. Belgium was livid, and UEFA said the decision had crossed a red line. FIFA still fined U.S. Soccer $40,000 and placed Balogun on a year of probation, and Belgium’s federation appealed the whole thing before getting turned away. The saga turned the tournament’s darling into villains for plenty of neutral fans, and it handed Rudi Gracia’s side all the fire they needed before kickoff.

Belgium made the USMNT pay for every mistake

Once the game started, Balogun’s return barely mattered. Rudi Gracia had left Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku on the bench, and his team still bypassed the American high press by dropping long balls over the top of a nervous back line. Belgium struck first in the ninth minute when Charles De Ketelaere tapped in a low ball across the face of goal. Malik Tillman answered out of nowhere in the 31st minute, curling a free kick that deflected off the Belgian wall and left keeper Thibaut Courtois frozen, one of the goals of the tournament. The joy lasted barely two minutes because De Ketelaere restored the lead almost immediately to finish his brace, and the Americans never truly recovered from it. The U.S controlled plenty of the ball after halftime, yet Belgium kept punishing every giveaway. Hans Vanaken pounced on a bad error from goalkeeper Matt Freese for the third goal, and Romelu Lukaku curled home in stoppage time after Chris Richards lost the ball deep in his own end. The expected goals summed it up neatly, with Belgium ahead 2.15 to 0.67.

A bitter end to a beautiful World Cup run

The night carried other wounds as well. Christian Pulisic limped off in the second half with an ankle injury, and the midfield lost its heartbeat without him. This was the fourth time in five World Cups that we exited in the round of 16, the same stage where it fell four years ago in Qatar. Even so, this group did something no American team has managed to do since 2002 by winning a knockout game, and they scored more goals than any U.S. side at a single World Cup. The defeat also meant all three host nations, the United States, Canada, and Mexico, have now left the tournament. Mauricio Pochettino asked the country to keep believing. “I think this team showed that we can play football, we can play soccer, we can compete,” he said, pointing to a young core with real potential coming up behind them. Belgium moves on to meet Spain on Friday, while the Americans walked off their own field to a stadium gone quiet, a home World Cup dream finished a round earlier than a whole country has let itself believe.