SEATTLE – The circumstances were dramatically different, from the tournament unfolding in euphoric fashion on U.S. soil, to the verve and fluidity they showcased at their best moments, to the enormous nationwide visibility of their run – which even drew, in explosively controversial fashion, the attention of the chief resident of the White House.
Yet with Monday’s 4–1 trouncing by Belgium, the U.S. men’s national team exited the 2026 World Cup at the exact same round as their predecessors did in the program’s last three adventures on this stage, and with arguably an even poorer performance than any of them.
“Yeah, it feels worse,” said Cristian Roldan, one of the veterans of the campaign in Qatar four years ago, in the postgame mixed zone. “Definitely feels worse than the last World Cup, because we felt that we had a good mix of being talented, more together, experience, so it feels worse going out the way we did, especially on home soil.”
It’s a cold slap for a group that truly believed they were on the cusp of something much bigger, led by a charismatic guru, roared on by huge home crowds like the one that packed into the Sounders’ house for this massive occasion on a gorgeous, warm Cascadia evening.
Tim Ream on Balo/Trump drama: "It had no impact. Outside noise, we've done a good job with this group of allowing outside noise to be outside noise. It's got nothing to do with us as players... That’s the world we live in. So we were fully focused on us as a group... and fully focused on the game"
— Charles Boehm ⚽️ (@cboehm.bsky.social) July 6, 2026 at 7:50 PM
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“The goal was to obviously inspire people that the sport was growing in the U.S., which I think we saw. I mean, the support was unbelievable,” midfielder Tyler Adams told reporters. “Our initial reaction as a team was that in this moment, we let them down. But I think altogether, people gravitated towards the team because we were relatable, we represented exactly what the U.S. was.
“But today wasn’t a good day.”
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Player after player insisted that the group was not affected by the furor over Folarin Balogun’s surprise reinstatement by FIFA after his VAR-imposed red card vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina last week, that President Donald Trump inserting himself into their tournament by lobbying his FIFA friend Gianni Infantino to that effect had nothing to do with them.
“We were not good enough today. We don’t need to find another excuse,” head coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “All the teams can have one day sometimes that you don’t perform and nothing is right for you, and today was that, this type of day that you suffer.”
It certainly felt like the sunny, confident vibe around the USMNT had vanished suddenly. Yet they maintained that they simply didn’t show up for this game.
USA 1-2 Belgium 33'- Charles De Ketelaere
— JM =^D (@jm539581.bsky.social) July 6, 2026 at 5:35 PM
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“Just one of those days. I mean, I wish it happened earlier on in the tournament, but it happened on a day like today,” defender Chris Richards said. “They punished us for our mistakes, and that's how international football goes. It’s how a World Cup goes.
“This tournament was, I think, an eye opener in a lot of ways – I think for fans and for Americans to see soccer culture, but also I think for us, it was a chance for us to see how we stacked up against some really good teams, and what a real tournament is like,” he added. “Ultimately, it didn’t go the way we wanted to today, but don’t think that the antics of the last 24 hours had anything to do with it.”
Belgium seemed to find a well of motivation from the drama.
The Red Devils were stone-cold killers, defanging the USMNT’s heretofore ferocious press with crisp, clinical ball circulation and carving their back line open at will. Charles De Ketelaere bagged a first-half brace before Hans Vanaken exploited a Matt Freese howler to cinch the victory, quieting the capacity crowd. And when the legendary Romelu Lukaku capped the rout with an injury-time exclamation point, he and his fellow Belgians broke into a Trump-style dance that left no doubt of their extra edge.
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) July 6, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Their mastery of both the big moments and small details – Belgium’s gamesmanship, for instance, was both subtle and savage – was a lesson for the Yanks.
“We continued to press, right, but I think there’s times where we left big gaps,” said young defender Alex Freeman. “That was one of the things where they got a lot of second balls, they got all the actions where they’re able to recover with time and space on the ball. And I think with a team like Belgium, it's hard to give time and space on the ball with a team that has very good individual players.
“You could tell they’ve had experience in the World Cup, and I think they’ve been one of the teams that they’ve gone far multiple times. I think for us, it’s how can you regroup, assess, and go in and hopefully be able to look back and see what we need to improve on, and what we need to go and do in the next cycle.”
That next cycle will roll in soon enough, even if it feels a million miles away at present. Everyone in red, white and blue knows full well that the opportunity of a home World Cup is a rare and precious thing. Even if this summer’s huge crowds and bumper profits draw FIFA back to these shores sooner than usual, it might be too late for the members of the current roster.
“I felt like the whole country was behind us, we had more belief than we did in Qatar, more experience, and it's just a pity that it ends this type of way,” said Sergino Dest. “Because we felt that we could achieve something bigger in this tournament.”
Roldan reflects
Cristian Roldan’s disappointment was twofold: A stinging loss for his team, and the end of the USMNT’s run confirming that his hopes of making a first career World Cup appearance were dashed again. Yet the character of the Sounders icon shone through as he still stopped to field a few questions in the mixed zone.
“It was a difficult summer for me, not being able to play minutes in the World Cup, and then getting injured,” said Roldan, who couldn’t shake off a quadriceps injury he picked up at the perfectly, brutally wrong moment, just before the Yanks’ group-stage dead rubber vs. Türkiye.
“But I would say that I was pretty important for the team: keep them even-keeled, make sure that I give my two cents every now and then, listen to players – you know that there’ s frustration when guys aren’t in lineup and in training sessions, so just giving the team a good balance.”
we all knew this squad could only get so far without a healthy roldan
— LP (@likkitp.ynyaproductions.com) July 6, 2026 at 6:24 PM
It’s a bitter pill for anyone to swallow, though Roldan held his head high.
“In the end that became my role,” he said. “I wanted a bigger role, but some things are out of your control, and you have to move on and adjust, and be the best professional you can be.”
He was also well-placed to reflect on the power of the Emerald City faithful, who worked in concert with legions of visiting fans to generate waves of noise for the home side in the city’s final match of the tournament.
While the USMNT simply didn’t deliver, this town did its part.
“Seattle did a really good job of showing the world what it’s capable of, of hosting big events like today,” Roldan said. “The energy in the stadium, the energy in the city, how many people were on the streets during the World Cup – Seattle, I think, is on the map, and rightfully so. Because they care about sports, and today was another example of why the city is so great.”
CR7 will be 35 when the next World Cup rolls around. It’s anyone's guess what his career trajectory will look like at that point. If this is his last taste of the planet's biggest stage, at least he got to experience something special, with two USMNT matches near his hometown and two more in the place where he’s built his life.
"I think that we captivated America," he said. "I think we captivated the world in the way we played, and we hope that people change their perspective on the US."
