Month: July 2026

United States forward Christian Pulisic could only watch from the bench as Belgium extinguished his team’s World Cup bid, ending a tournament in which the American star was hobbled by injuries and largely ineffective. The most accomplished U.S. striker, Pulisic was held scoreless in his second World Cup. He has 33 goals in 90 international appearances but has scored just once in eight World Cup games — against Iran in the group stage in 2022. For the second time in this World Cup, Pulisic left a match in the second half with an injury, leaving Monday’s 4-1 loss to Belgium after twisting his right ankle when he extended for a shot attempt and hit the boot of Belgium captain Youri Tielemans in the 52nd minute. After spending a few moments lying on the pitch, Pulisic began favoring the foot and was replaced in the 59th by Sebastian Berhalter with the U.S. trailing 3-1. Having to come out of the game was “difficult for me to deal with,” he said. “I felt really good this summer with the guys and I thought my level was high,” Pulisic said. “It’s disappointing I didn’t quite have the moments I was hoping to and to try to help us to get over this next step of beating a really good team.” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said after the game he hoped Pulisic’s injury was nothing serious and that Pulisic would be able to reintegrate with his club, AC Milan. Players typically get 21 days off after the end of the World Cup before having to report to their clubs. Pulisic was slowed by a calf injury during the group stage. After a sparkling first half in the first U.S. game, a 4-1 victory over Paraguay, he sat for the rest of the match due to stiffness from a calf injury incurred in training. He sat out the Americans’ win over Australia before entering as a substitute in the group-stage loss to Turkey. Pulisic returned to the starting lineup for the Americans’ 2-0 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32. He said Monday he will “try and stay positive,” adding: “I did a lot of good things and the team did as well.” “He’s going to bounce back,” American defender Alex Freeman said. “He’s a great player and a person that’s always going to fight.” Reporting by The Associated Press.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

What was such an inspiring World Cup journey came to a disappointing end. When the competition gets harder, there are more consequences for not performing. It can’t be a day when so many guys are passengers. On the day, it was simple: Belgium was the better side. The performance today was nowhere near what these players expected of themselves, and I think that’s where the most disappointment will come from. It was not where it needed to be to give the U.S. a chance to win the game. Instead of just rating the players for their performances against Belgium, let’s take a bigger-picture look at how they did throughout the tournament. (We’ll start with the coach, though.) U.S. Player Ratings I thought he managed the tournament well. Some people gave him stick for making changes in the final group-stage match against Türkiye when there was nothing to play for, but ultimately, those were warranted. You saw what happened in the next game against Bosnia and Herzegovina when a well-rested squad performed very well in the round of 32. The lineup Pochettino picked against Belgium was the right one. It was the best XI available. Ultimately, I think there’s going to be some criticism because the belief was that he could take us that step further than we’ve been. But I tip my hat to him and thought he managed this group well throughout the group stage. For me, Weston was the best player in the tournament for us. There’s a reason why he played the most minutes of anybody on this team, and there’s a reason why Pochettino trusts him so much in midfield. He offers a lot on both ends of the pitch. I think getting a second World Cup under his belt will bode well for him going forward. He’s going to remain a big part of our spine in midfield. Flo was right up there with Weston throughout the course of the tournament. As I have said throughout the World Cup, he is the No. 9 we have been waiting for. Balogun was man of the match on multiple occasions, and his influence was felt throughout the course of this World Cup. He’ll continue to be the target man for this team. Tillman is a special player. He offers something different compared to Weston and Tyler Adams and delivers constant quality on the ball. I’m very excited about this midfield trio going forward. Freeman showed really well for himself against Belgium. He had moments but ultimately wasn’t at the level of consistency that we’d seen throughout the course of the group stage or against Bosnia and Herzegovina. For a 21-year-old, he conducted himself incredibly well. He’s our anchor and a huge part of our spine moving forward. Getting Chris this experience at the World Cup, to me, was vital. He’s going to assume even more responsibility moving forward. Part of Christian’s rating is because of the calf injury he suffered in the group stage. A lot of his tournament was impacted by that, since he maybe wasn’t on the field as much as we needed him. Then against Belgium, he struggled to have the type of involvement that he knows he can. When Christian is at his best and sharpest, we win that game. When that’s the case, he’s committing defenders to him, beating players off the dribble, getting shots off, getting access to the final third. If nothing else, he’s attracting the defense’s attention. Ultimately, he wasn’t able to have that kind of impact against Belgium because he didn’t have the chances to play more minutes earlier in the tournament. Without the performance against Belgium, this is a 7 or an 8. My rating definitely was impacted by that defeat, though. I felt Tyler could have been more authoritative and dictated more of the play against Belgium. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise solid World Cup. Ream wasn’t at his best against Belgium, as he was involved in conceding three of them. Ultimately, I thought he had a good tournament minus this performance. Unfortunately for him, this match against Belgium was when we needed him most and the opponent got the better of him. Against Belgium, Antonee was just a little less effective than he has been throughout the course of the tournament. Still, he’s one of our most consistent players from game to game. It’s interesting with Sergiño because he is playing somewhat out of position. He is traditionally a right back and plays there for his club and has, in the past, for the national team, but he was a right-winger for this tournament. Against Belgium, it wasn’t his best day, but he looked threatening at times throughout the World Cup. Throughout the course of the tournament, he made the saves that he was supposed to make, along with a couple bigger saves, even against Belgium. What’s going to stand out, though, is the glaring mistake he made that led directly to the third Belgium goal. That one really put the game out of reach for us and made it even more difficult to get back into it.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

While the USA’s World Cup run ended in difficult fashion on Monday night in Seattle, former national team players noted that there are plenty of positives to take away from this tournament. Belgium knocked the U.S. out with an impressive performance that ended with a 4-1 win. The Americans conceded in the ninth minute. Malik Tillman scored from another free kick in the 31st minute, and then, less than two minutes later, Belgium struck back. USA never came out of its stupor after that, with a down performance that coach Mauricio Pochettino believes falls on him. The run ends on a down note, but it shouldn’t be all doom and gloom for the future of U.S. soccer. The Americans won Group D and delivered a memorable performance in the round of 32 against Bosnia and Herzegovina. That knockout-stage match clearly captivated the nation, with more than 27 million people tuning in for the victory on July 1. “You can’t get away from talk shows talking about soccer, the U.S. men’s national team, talking about these individuals and how brilliant they’ve been,” former USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan said on “World Cup NOW” from Seattle Stadium after the defeat. “On the day, it’s disappointing, but overall, they should be extremely proud of what they’ve been able to do.” “I’m really proud of the inspiration that they gave the United States and a lot of young kids out there and a lot of fans,” former U.S. midfielder Sacha Kljestan said, “that casual sports fan that locked in on this team and was so excited to watch them play. That was special.” This was the second time in U.S. soccer history that the team won a game in the knockout stage, although it has still only reached one quarterfinal since 1930. While the crew of former players acknowledged that there will be frustration and disappointment after this defeat, this will be a positive for U.S. soccer over the long haul. “The bigger picture still exists,” Edu said. “What I would say to this group of players is hold your head up, right? Yeah, it’s difficult right now in this moment. It’s difficult, of course, because of the circumstances, but hold your head high and don’t for a second stop dreaming, stop daring yourself to be the best version of this national team that we’ve ever seen. Don’t, for a second, ever, question what your ability is and what the standard is.” Many players who started for the U.S. compete in some of the top leagues in the world. Midfielder Weston McKennie and winger Christian Pulisic play in Italy’s Serie A; midfielder Malik Tillman plays in the German Bundesliga; striker Folarin Balogun is in France’s Ligue 1; defender Alex Freeman moved to La Liga in Spain back in January; and defenders Chris Richards and Antonee Robinson are both in the English Premier League. The performances that this U.S. men’s national team put together will no doubt have raised some eyebrows across the world. Edu added: “It’s a global perspective that’s looking at this country, looking at us saying, ‘Yeah, they seem to have something. That country is producing players. They’re not scared of the moment, they’re ready for the moment, and they’re going to win a World Cup soon.’”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

It was a disastrous night for the co-hosts. And the United States men’s national team’s leader thinks the blame should fall squarely on his shoulders. After falling 4-1 to Belgium in Seattle, United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino spoke with FOX Sports’ Jenny Taft about the bitter result. “Maybe the explanation is so easy: it wasn’t our day, collectively and individually,” Pochettino told Taft. “Of course, the principal responsible is myself. And yes, we need to see and to check what we did because it wasn’t the performance or the way that normally we play.” Pochettino went on to congratulate his opponents, while acknowledging USA did not play to the fullest of its abilities. “To congratulate Belgium, they were better than us,” Pochettino said. “I think it wasn’t our day. That is. It’s not to find excuses or to find arguments because we didn’t show what normally [our] team can show. And that is the reality.” Belgium cruised into the quarterfinals behind a brace from Charles De Ketelaere, a goal from Hans Vanaken and a late finish from Romelu Lukaku to cap off a dominant performance. Malik Tillman managed to equalize for the co-hosts at 1-1 after converting a free kick in the 31st minute, but it wasn’t anywhere near enough. “I think everything was short,” Pochettino said. “From the beginning, we didn’t connect the game. We never were on the game, even when we scored. And we scored the goal, 1-1, we conceded the next action. It was really tough from the beginning.” Pochettino said the United States will need to evaluate what went wrong after failing to approach the game with the same intensity and sharpness it had shown earlier in the tournament. “I think we need to learn. I think it’s 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 [as] the rest of the World Cup.” Belgium moves on and will take on Spain in the quarterfinals in Los Angeles on Friday, July 10.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports