Christian Pulisic and Chris Richards in tears as ‘scared’ USMNT freeze and Belgium end World Cup dream

There will be no World Cup quarterfinal for the United States as a clinical and ruthless Belgium ended the hopes of the last host at the 2026.

Standing on the brink of history, the United States folded in Seattle, losing 4-1 to a Belgian team that produced their best performance of the tournament.

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In March, the US were humbled 5-2 by Belgium in a pre-World Cup friendly and back in 2014 in Germany it was Belgium who ended US hopes with a Round of 16 win.

There was no revenge in 2026.

Instead for the US, it was their worst performance, as defensive disarray and a lack of attacking threat from the outset saw a memorable tournament end on the lowest of lows.

“I felt that they lost the game before they even stepped out onto the pitch, and I’m not sure why, and I don’t know the reasons,” two-time World Cup winner with the USWNT Carli Lloyd shared post-game with FOX.

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“Just from the beginning, chasing, tentative, scared. Just not confident on the ball.

“Big time players – you want some of those big time players to step up in big moments. And I’ve got to be honest. I was a bit disappointed with Christian Pulisic.

“Whether he wants to be the star of this team or not, we didn’t see enough from him in this particular game, and really the whole World Cup. There were a little glimpses here and there.”

Mauricio Pochettino was left kicking water bottles in frustration, while Captain America Christian Pulisic appeared to be in tears on the sideline as he was substituted midway through the second half with what was eventually confirmed to be a twisted ankle.

And as the final whistle blew, Chris Richards slumped to the ground as the tears began to flow.

Two goals from Charles De Ketelaere and one each from Hans Vanakan after a terrible Matt Freese mistake and Romelu Lukaku spelt the end for Pochettino and his squad.

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Malik Tillman had briefly raised hopes when he levelled the game with a deflected free-kick but the US were on level terms for just 61 seconds as De Ketelaere restored the lead to leave Pochettino furious on the sideline.

For the fourth World Cup in succession and sixth in their history, the US men’s dream fades at the Round of 16 stage – and it is Belgium who advance to a quarterfinal with European champions Spain.

The US started slowly, despite confirming Folarin Balogun in their starting lineup and could have been behind even earlier than De Ketelaere ninth minute opener.

After Tillman and De Ketelaere had exchanged goals it wasn’t until the second half that Belgium sealed the win that their dominance deserved.

But the USMNT were architects of their own downfall.

Firstly Freese’s shocking mistake having charged out of his goal allowed Vanakan to steer home from long range.

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And as a Seattle Stadium that was raucous before kickoff slumped into silence, Romelu Lukaku pounced on a Chris Richards mistake to add a fourth.

Hopes had never been higher of reaching just a second quarterfinal in men’s World Cup history after wins over Paraguay, Australia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

But instead tears, and the Round of 16 that has proved so problematic will prompt questions over Pochettino’s future.

The former Tottenham, Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain coach had been linked to other jobs on the eve of the tournament, but also having been the subject of talks about an extension as expectations rose.

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“From the beginning, we didn’t connect with the game,” Pochettino said to FOX Sports’ Jenny Taft after the match. “Even when we scored, and it was 1-1, we conceded [in] the next action. It was really tough from the beginning.

“I want to congratulate Belgium. They were better than us. It wasn’t our day. That isn’t to find excuses or argument, because we didn’t show what normally that team can show. That is the reality.”

“I think we need to learn. I think it is a process to learn. We need to assess that game and we need to see why we didn’t approach the game in the same way that we did the rest of the World Cup.

“… Maybe the explanation is so easy – it wasn’t our day as a collective, and as individuals. Of course the principal person responsible is myself, and yes we need to see and check what we did because it wasn’t the performance that we normally play.”

The result means that the USA miss out on a first quarterfinal since 2002 in Korea and Japan when they beat Mexico to reach the last eight where they lost 1-0 to Germany.

While the US Women’s Team have won four World Cups and reached at least the semifinals in eight of the nine tournaments to be played, the men have still just record one quarterfinal appearance since their third placed finish in 1930.

It wasn’t supposed to end this way.

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