Disappointment is the watchword in 2026.
The last time the U.S. men’s national team qualified for the World Cup quarterfinals was in 2002. Landon Donovan, Claudio Reyna, Eddie Pope, Earnie Stewart, and Brian McBride created moments that would last forever.
It has been 24 years, and it looks like that feat is the best the USMNT can do after another disappointment in the 4-1 Round of 16 loss to Belgium on Monday night at Seattle Stadium (Lumen Field).
Everyone in America figured this match would be the team’s breakthrough after three wins against Australia, Paraguay, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. It turned out to be a cruel joke that duped us.
It wasn’t just the loss. It was how Team USA lost. The moment was too much on a big stage.
The Americans struggled from the beginning. They didn’t attack and defend. Goalie Matt Freese made a couple of saves early on to prevent Belgium from taking a 1-0 lead. It was a sign that the match would not end well, and it didn’t.
Charles De Ketelaere struck first in the ninth minute of the game, giving Belgium a 1-0 lead. He found an opening to score where Freese was out of position. Chris Richards and Weston McKennie failed to clear the ball, setting up Nathan Ngoy’s pass to De Ketelaere.
It was the little details that put Team USA in a bind.
The U.S. received a mulligan when Malik Tillman executed a free kick, tying the game at 1 in the 31st minute. But even then, the home team couldn’t take advantage of it.
61 seconds later, De Ketelaere did it again, making an excellent pass to Hans Vanaken, who headed the ball in for the goal. That’s all she wrote. From there, the match turned into a coronation for Belgium and a wake for America.
There would be no second-half heroics on that night. The home crowd was dead. At Tommy’s Tavern and Pub in Edgewater, NJ, where I watched the game, some people were so stunned they started leaving at halftime.
Here’s what’s damning for USMNT: Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun were non-factors for the Americans.
We were all worked up about FIFA rescinding Balogun’s suspension at President Donald Trump’s urging. It turned out he was a non-factor. Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising, since the rule change happened on a moment’s notice, and Balogun himself was probably surprised he was playing. We all know athletes are creatures of habit, where preparation matters, and there was no way he could have been ready to play. In hindsight, this decision backfired on Team USA.
You can’t come up with an excuse for Pulisic. Sure, we can say he was playing hurt, but guess what? Everyone plays hurt as we go further with the tournament. He never attacked.
Granted, all of his teammates stunk just like him. But he’s the star of the team. He needed to set the tone from the beginning. He had to rally when the U.S. was off to a rough start. He offered nothing, even when the game was out of reach. It summed up his and his team’s night when he left the game in the second half after he twisted his ankle.
All that happened was just par for the course for the USMNT. The ending never ends well.
Another disappointment makes you wonder if Team USA will ever win the World Cup in our lifetime.
Barstool Sports’ Frank Fleming made a sobering point on X Monday night, comparing the USMT to a mid-major team that gets exposed when playing the big boys in college basketball.
There’s no hope now and in the future. Where are we getting the best athletes to play soccer? Youth soccer is expensive as it is, and parents are not going to foot the bill for their boys to play, especially with how unaffordable America is. Plus, football and basketball are higher priorities.
Maybe the problem is us, not the USMNT. We get so excited that we create expectations because we want it so badly for ourselves and the team. We want to be No. 1 at everything, so it shouldn’t be any different in soccer.
Maybe we should accept that it is what our soccer team is and what it’s going to be. 2002 is probably the exception rather than the norm.
Throwing another billion dollars isn’t going to change a thing. Look for the same old story four years from now when the World Cup takes place in Spain.
