Ryan S. ClarkJul 6, 2026, 10:14 PM ETCloseRyan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.
For the fourth time in the last five World Cups, the U.S. men's national team met their end in the round of 16, this time with a 4-1 loss on Monday to Belgium at Lumen Field in Seattle.
Belgium took a 1-0 lead through Charles De Ketelaere scoring in the first nine minutes. That not only placed the U.S. in a hole but it left the Americans faced with the difficult prospect of trying to force a comeback in a knockout stage match. The U.S. entered Monday with a 0-0-7 record in knockout games that saw them give up the first goal.
Although Malik Tillman's free kick tied the match in the 31st minute, it was De Ketelaere who struck again two minutes later for a 2-1 lead before Matt Freese's second-half miscue saw the Belgians take a 3-1 lead.
Let's take a glance at what happened and how it all went down in the final match for the U.S. in the World Cup.
Mauricio Pochettino, 5 -- Belgium opening with six shots in the first 11 minutes was a sign that the U.S. was going to be forced to defend quite a bit. And that was the case. What also didn't help was how the Americans struggled at times to control possession. Pochettino made the decision at half to bring on Gio Reyna with the hope it would lead to a spark. There were times when the U.S. tried to find an equalizer but Freese's mistake in the second half only made it more challenging.
GK Matt Freese, 2 -- His decisions came under question early and often. It started with how he misread the sequence that saw the Belgians take a 1-0 lead through Charles De Ketelaere's first goal. It proved costly again when De Ketelaere's second goal was a header that caught Freese out of position. Then there was the blunder that saw him try to play the ball only to have it deflect off De Ketelaere and make its way to Hans Vanaken for a fatal goal.
RB Alex Freeman, 3 -- Both The Red Devils' goals in the first half came on the right. Freeman got in front of the initial ball before a deflection saw the Belgians recover that led to the first goal. Yet the second goal Belgium scored saw Freeman come over a bit too late to help Sergino Dest just as Leandro Trossard's cross set up De Ketelaere's second salvo. He failed to capitalize on an excellent cross from Tyler Adams at one point that put him through on goal.
CB Chris Richards, 3 -- Richards was part of the group of U.S. players that was either caught watching or out of position on Belgium's first goal. The same thing happened again when he struggled to fend off Romelu Lukaku with the hulking forward taking advantage of a misplayed ball for a 4-0 lead.
CB Tim Ream, 3 -- He was the last defender that was directly in front of De Ketelaere before the Atalanta forward scored his first. Ream was in that position again when De Ketelaere got on the wrong side of the U.S. captain before using his 6-foot-4 frame to rise up for the header that gave the Belgians a one-goal advantage.
LB Antonee Robinson, 4 -- One could debate that Robinson could have done more to stop or at least make it more difficult for De Ketelaere to score the first goal. Yet when it came to the U.S. trying to sustain anything on attack, he had moments when he contributed but could never quite make the impact to make the Americans a threat down the left.
CM Weston McKennie, 4 -- Per usual, McKennie was present in different places on the pitch for the U.S. It's just that the difference between his previous performance and his latest effort was that there weren't many of those moments when he played the balls that either setup an attack or was the primary facilitator himself.
CM Tyler Adams, 4 -- Belgium had those early sequences in the middle of the pitch when it was able to get beyond Adams and pose a threat to the back line. Adams would eventually recover in a way that forced the Belgians into attacking out wide while he also sought to retain the ball in a match that saw the U.S. get the ball in spurts.
AM Sergiño Dest, 3 -- Exiting after the first half was more of a tactical decision about getting back into the match. But Dest's outing was still a challenging one. He was in position for a potential clearance but was beat to the ball on the sequence that led to De Ketelaere's first goal. And while he was marking Trossard while receiving late help from Freeman, the delivery itself still made its way into the box for a 2-1 lead.
AM Malik Tillman, 5 -- The free kick that deflected off Vanaken and beyond Thibault Courtois led to the belief that the U.S. was about to change its fortunes. Until De Ketelaere quickly scored to restore Belgium's lead. What he did early in the second half was be part of the attack that tried to generate whatever it could to tie the game before Freese's costly error placed the match out of reach.
AM Christian Pulisic, 2 -- Belgium owning the ball for the majority of the first half meant Pulisic was part of the press that sought to force some confusion at the back. His strongest moments came in the second half during that early push before an apparent injury led to him eventually being subbed out of the match. His first half, however, was rough: Pulisic's 11 possessions lost was the most of any player on the field.
ST Folarin Balogun, 5 -- Goals are the currency through which strikers are judged. And when they don't score, they are assessed on what they did in other areas. Balogun kept getting into positions that either saw him get shots that were deflected or at least be in a threatening spot on the pitch at various moments such as the shot he had in the 81st minute that was stopped by Courtois.
CM Giovanni Reyna (Dest, 45'), 5 -- Reyna coming into the midfield saw him be part of the early push in the second half that took a hit with Belgium taking a 3-1 lead on Freese's error.
AM Sebastian Berhalter (Pulisic, 59') 5 -- He provided that box to box element that nearly paid off with a long-range goal in the 79th minute that was arguably the most dangerous chance the U.S. mustered in the second half.
CM Ricardo Pepi (Adams, '71), NR -- The PSV Eindhoven striker was called in to help add another player in attack.
LB Max Arfsten (Robinson, '90 +2), NR -- He was part of the group that finished the game in stoppage time.
ST Haji Wright (Balogun, '90 + 2), NR -- Like Arfsten, he came on late in a match that was already decided.
Source: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49291738/usmnt-player-ratings-pulisic-co-struggle-world-cup-exit