'We fell short' - From Christian Pulisic’s quiet World Cup to Mauricio Pochettino’s missed expectations: Winners and losers from the USMNT’s loss vs Belgium

Pulisic has been the face of U.S. Soccer for just under a decade now, and with good reason. He is clearly the best club player America has ever produced, with a Champions League title and several other trophies to his name. Yet, for the national team, he is still waiting for that complete World Cup performance - one where he could etch his name alongside Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey among the greats.

He may now have to wait until 2030 for that opportunity. Against Belgium, Pulisic was practically invisible, notching zero shots, zero chances created, and just one touch in the opposition box in 59 minutes. Yes, he left the game early after taking a knock early in the second half, but the performance was largely indicative of his tournament.

Outside of his assist against Paraguay and some flashes against Australia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, one could make the case he was not even among the USMNT’s top five performers this summer. It continues what has been a challenging 2026 for the forward. It also raises fair questions about whether his decision to take a break last summer, when the U.S. was building chemistry at the Gold Cup, ultimately left him playing catch-up in a tournament where others looked more fully connected to Pochettino’s system.

Rudi Garcia was vocal about his disappointment with FIFA's decision to suspend Balogun's red card, saying Belgium were fighting this call not just for their game, but for the future of football.

Belgium might have ultimately lost the appeal they were given by FIFA on Monday, but Garcia took matters into his own hands.

"What really mattered to us is our game plan," Garcia said through a translator after the game. "We played with mastery, with willingness and dedication [and] we are now progressing. It was a great night for us."

Garcia refused to let the Red Devils lose in Seattle and made a bold decision to bench two stars in Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku. The decision was made in an effort to give Belgium more of a counter-attacking look in the first half and then introduce three of his best attackers in De Bruyne, Doku and Romelu Lukaku in the last 45 minutes.

The plan worked beautifully. Belgium neutralized Balogun by surrounding him with man-markers with pace and whenever the U.S. overcommitted in attack, the visitors would punish the Americans. Interestingly enough, Garcia noted that the encounter between the two sides in March gave the Belgians some advantages in terms of preparing for Monday's contest.

"We took them over [tonight]," Garcia said. "We had already displayed a great performance during the friendlies in March, which helped us [in preparing].

"We did press and put them in some difficult situations - like the third goal. The goalkeeper made a mistake because we pushed him to. We wanted to play it forward and change the game."

Pochettino might have been the bigger-name coach at this tournament, but there's no question, Garcia outcoached him in the Round of 16.

Dest has been one of the United States' best players during their World Cup run. Unfortunately for the Americans, Monday was one of his most challenging outings with the national team.

As the wing back said it best, he plays best when he's free - masking his defensive deficiencies with his dribbling ability and pace. Belgium, though, fully exploited Dest's weaknesses in the back. He was certainly at fault on the second goal, and didn't help on the first, either.

With the PSV star under pressure on one end, he appeared too focused on trying to make up for it in attack - recklessly pushing the ball forward and in spots that helped no one. Just a disappointing night for a player who otherwise was one of the stars of the America's World Cup run.

Freese made the save of the game in the first half, keeping the U.S. alive when Belgium threatened to take control before the break. But in the second half, it all came apart.

With the U.S. still fighting to stay in the match, Freese received the ball near the edge of his box and, with Belgium pressing, tried to keep possession rather than clear it out of danger. The decision backfired badly. He lost the ball in front of goal, leaving Hans Vanaken with a simple finish and the USMNT with a backbreaking third goal conceded at the worst possible time.

For a position that had appeared largely settled under Mauricio Pochettino, with Freese emerging as his No. 1, the debate will now reopen heading into the next cycle. The reality is that the USMNT still has not found a true heir to Tim Howard, who delivered superstar-level performances across nearly two decades with the national team.

Goalkeeper has been one of the U.S.’s biggest questions for the past two years. There has been no clear standout in Europe, and among the MLS-based options, Freese had arguably made the strongest case. Some will argue that Matt Turner, who had bright moments at the last World Cup, deserved a longer look, though his recent USMNT outings were uneven - and not always entirely his fault.

Whether the answer is still somewhere within this group or comes from a younger player outside the current squad remains to be seen. But if the USMNT want to take another step forward, this is a position they have to solve.

Pochettino was hired at great expense because of his reputation and his ability to get the best out of the squads at his disposal. During his first week on the job, he was asked how far he could take this USMNT group and confidently pointed to at least the quarterfinals.

By his own expectations and standards, then, this was not good enough.

"It just hurts to be eliminated," Pochettino said through a translator. "We have really enjoyed ourselves being together and today's result hurts."

The U.S. lost in the Round of 16 in Qatar and exited at the same stage on home soil, in front of a boisterous crowd in Seattle. Yes, the Americans earned a long-awaited knockout-round win along the way, but that came in part because the expanded 48-team World Cup introduced an additional round.

There would be more room for optimism if the U.S. had put up a real fight Monday. Instead, they never fully showed up and, at times, looked ill-prepared. This was not the proactive side that played with swagger through the opening two games, nor the team that showed resilience against Bosnia and Herzegovina. This was a group that capitulated when the spotlight was brightest.

"Today we were not the same team that during the tournament showed quality," he said. "It was very bad day, it wasn't our day in a collective and individual way. We need to accept that sometimes this type of thing happens, but then in the World Cup when that happens, you don't have another chance...When that happens in the knockout stage, you're out."

It was arguably one of the USMNT’s worst performances in a modern World Cup elimination game. Fair or not, that falls on the manager. Pochettino, whose contract is up after this tournament, admittedly has an uncertain future, but didn't completely close the door when asked about extending his stay.

"I think we have a very good relationship, but now is not a moment to talk about that," Pochettino said. "I think now is a moment to see, to assess the tournament, you know, and for sure in the next weeks we can start to talk, if the federation will want to talk."

Charles De Ketelaere has always been an intriguing footballer: a No. 10 in mentality, but seemingly sculpted in the frame of a center forward at 6-foot-4. At times, he has appeared caught between those two identities, unsure whether he is best used as a creator or a scorer. That tension helped define his difficult spell at AC Milan before he found his footing at Atalanta.

Against the U.S. on Monday, he showed why, at 25, there is still so much to like. Yes, his first goal was a simple tap-in after a poor USMNT sequence, but his second was all power, as he overpowered Tim Ream to score with a header. They were his first two goals of the tournament, and for Belgium, they could not have come at a better time.

Click here to read article