{"id":916,"date":"2026-07-07T13:11:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T13:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=916"},"modified":"2026-07-07T13:11:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T13:11:22","slug":"after-all-that-the-usmnt-is-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=916","title":{"rendered":"After All That, the USMNT Is Done"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There was something noticeably and disconcertingly different about the U.S. team that showed up \u2014 or didn\u2019t show up, you might say \u2014 at Seattle\u2019s Lumen Field on Monday night for its round of 16 match against Belgium. This version had little of the dynamism, intensity and confidence <\/u><\/span>the Americans had shown over the previous three weeks, when they won three times and recalibrated expectations<\/u><\/span> for what was possible for their nascent program.<\/p>\n

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There were any number of reasons why such a thing might have been so. A decidedly superior opponent \u2014 as the Belgians surely were in their thorough, surgical 4-1 takedown of the U.S. \u2014 has a way of making you look tentative and out of sorts. It might have been nothing more than that. Belgium pounded the U.S. early and pounded them late, the better team in every phase of the game.<\/p>\n

As a result, the Red Devils move on to face Spain in Friday\u2019s quarterfinals in Los Angeles, while the Americans, for all the promise and progress they showed across their first four matches, bow out in the same round they did in 2010, 2014 and 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to assess that game and see why we didn\u2019t approach that game the same way as the rest of the World Cup,\u201d coach Mauricio Pochettino said on Fox\u2019s postgame telecast. \u201cMaybe the explanation is easy: It wasn\u2019t our day \u2026 It wasn\u2019t the performance or the way we normally play.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the shame of it all is that we will never know for sure whether there was something bigger at play, something working against the Americans in what was indisputably the biggest game in the history of the men\u2019s national team. We will never know what could have been. Because despite the rules and procedures and protocols that FIFA seems to pull out of thin air whenever it is convenient, there remains no mechanism for time travel, or for replaying a game in a parallel universe.<\/p>\n

And because of that, we will never know the outcome of the \u201cwhat if?\u201d scenario: What if the rampant officiating shenanigans and political intrigue of the past week, which altered the vibes around the U.S. team, if not the entire tournament, had never happened?<\/p>\n

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What if U.S. striker Folarin Balogun, the team\u2019s most productive player in this tournament, had never received that questionable red card in the round of 32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, costing him the final 36 minutes of that game and \u2014 by rule \u2014 the entirety of Monday night\u2019s game as well?<\/p>\n

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What if FIFA, the sport\u2019s global governing body, hadn\u2019t suddenly reversed course on Sunday, rescinding Balogun\u2019s suspension and making him eligible to play Monday night, under some obscure and byzantine process that no one knew existed? What if it hadn\u2019t later been revealed that President Donald J. Trump had applied pressure<\/u><\/span> to FIFA\u2019s leadership to reinstate Balogun \u2014 which only served to ratchet up the international furor surrounding the questionable decision?<\/p>\n

What if all the political intrigue hadn\u2019t carried straight through Monday afternoon, with the Belgian federation challenging (unsuccessfully) Balogun\u2019s reinstatement, and with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, in a statement, denying Trump\u2019s phone call swayed the organization\u2019s decision?<\/p>\n

Maybe nothing would have been different. Or maybe everything would have.<\/p>\n

Better vibes probably wouldn\u2019t have prevented, for example, the excruciating mistake<\/u><\/span> of overaggression made by goalkeeper Matt Freese that gifted the Belgians their third goal of the night and essentially sealed the Americans\u2019 fate. Nor is it likely that better vibes would have resulted in a better game for U.S. star Christian Pulisic, who was mostly a nonfactor before leaving with an injury in the 59th minute, thus ending his tournament with no goals and just four shots in the entire tournament.<\/p>\n

The play of the U.S. team across the first three weeks of the World Cup \u2014 when it won three of its first four games, sometimes in overpowering fashion \u2014 had raised hopes for a long, sustained run deep into a tournament where it served as one of three host countries. A roster full of likable characters and stylish athletes had galvanized the nation\u2019s soccer community \u2014 and judging from the television ratings, many millions of casual watchers, as well \u2014 at a time when the sport has never been more popular on these shores.<\/p>\n

But those hopes ran head-on into Belgium\u2019s sturdy juggernaut Monday night. The Red Devils haven\u2019t lost a game in over a year, having previously victimized the U.S., 5-2, during a friendly in Atlanta in March. For all the progress the USMNT has made, it still hasn\u2019t shown it can take down one of Europe\u2019s elite sides.<\/p>\n

Perhaps in a parallel universe \u2014 one where Balogun never gets the red card that set off all of the subsequent shenanigans \u2014 things could have been different. But it still would have been Belgium on the other side of the pitch, and as fun as it might be to play \u201cwhat if,\u201d it\u2019s hard to envision any scenario Monday night where the Americans prevail and keep their summer alive.<\/p>\n

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An ugly loss to Belgium ended a World Cup run that generated both excitement and controversy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nAfter All That, the USMNT Is Done - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=916\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"After All That, the USMNT Is Done - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An ugly loss to Belgium ended a World Cup run that generated both excitement and controversy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=916\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-07T13:11:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=916#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=916\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"After All That, the USMNT Is Done\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T13:11:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=916\"},\"wordCount\":899,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=916#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/482f52d1d30a4550d804aa44522bf5dd-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=916#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=916\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=916\",\"name\":\"After All That, the USMNT Is Done - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=916#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=916#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/482f52d1d30a4550d804aa44522bf5dd-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T13:11:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=916#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=916\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=916#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/482f52d1d30a4550d804aa44522bf5dd-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/482f52d1d30a4550d804aa44522bf5dd-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"United States' Sebastian Berhalter, right, and Tim Ream react after the United States lost a World Cup round of 16 soccer match against Belgium in Seattle, Monday, July 6, 2026. 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