Camille Naredo

Folarin Balogun #20 of the United States attends a training session ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match at University of Washington on July 05, 2026 in Seattle, Washington.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 05: Folarin Balogun #20 of the United States attends a training session ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match at University of Washington on July 05, 2026 in Seattle, Washington.   Jamie Squire/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by JAMIE SQUIRE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Article (news)

USA Training Session - FIFA World Cup 2026

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1783498892618AFP__20260705__2284779857__v1__MidRes__UsaTrainingSessionFifaWorldCup2026.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Folarin Balogun #20 of the United States attends a training session ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match at University of Washington on July 05, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. Jamie Squire, Getty Images/AFP"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Folarin Balogun #20 of the United States attends a training session ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match at University of Washington on July 05, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. <em>Jamie Squire, Getty Images/AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>SEATTLE -- Despite hiring an elite coach, talking up a &quot;golden generation&quot; of players and even benefiting from White House pressure to get a striker unbanned, the US dream of a miracle World Cup win on home soil has ended exactly as it did four years ago.</p><p>The United States&#x27; defeat to Belgium in Seattle on Monday meant a second consecutive elimination in the round-of-16 by European opponents, after falling to the Netherlands in 2022.</p><p>It has raised the question of whether, for all the hype and investment and talk of belated progress in a long soccer-skeptical country, the US men&#x27;s national team is really any further along.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/7/7/belgium-thrash-usa-to-end-world-cup-dream-and-set-up-spain-showdown-1325">READ: Belgium thrash USA to end World Cup dream and set up Spain showdown</a></div><p>&quot;I think one year (ago) we were in a mess. Thinking today, in the way that we performed in that World Cup, I think we improved a lot,&quot; said manager Mauricio Pochettino, after the loss.</p><p>&quot;But the problem? You improve, but sometimes you need to go little by little. It&#x27;s not linear, that you are going to grow so quick.&quot;</p><p>While few would dispute the difficulty of making the US a soccer power overnight, it is a far cry from Pochettino&#x27;s words before the tournament, when he repeatedly asked players and fans to dream, &quot;Why not us?&quot;</p><p>Those high hopes were borne out by the US group-stage performances, including a memorable opening 4-1 win over Paraguay, and a professional 2-0 dismissal of Bosnia-Herzegovina in the first knockout round.</p><p>But the campaign came dramatically undone against Belgium, a team the US has not beaten in seven attempts since the very first World Cup in 1930, and which also knocked out the Americans in the last-16 in 2014.</p><p>&quot;It feels exactly the same when you get knocked out of a tournament. It doesn&#x27;t feel great,&quot; said midfielder Tyler Adams, who captained the US in 2022.</p><p>&quot;I think overall there were positives that we&#x27;re going to take away from it, [but] it just doesn&#x27;t feel like it matters.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Flunked&#x27; -</strong></div><p>Much of the reaction from US media to Monday&#x27;s defeat has been eviscerating.</p><p>&quot;This was an unprecedented opportunity for the USMNT, for these American players and for the sport. And they squandered it,&quot; wrote The Athletic&#x27;s Henry Bushnell.</p><p>&quot;They flunked the biggest test of their life.&quot;</p><p>&quot;This wasn&#x27;t enough. Not nearly. Not even close,&quot; wrote ESPN&#x27;s Sam Borden.</p><p>Adding insult to injury, the US campaign went from a feelgood, have-a-go heroes to villains getting their come-uppance for much of the world, after President Donald Trump boasted of calling FIFA to demand Folarin Balogun&#x27;s ban be lifted.</p><div><a class="fr-strong fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/7/7/-disappointed-pochettino-says-balogun-row-no-excuse-for-us-world-cup-exit-1628">READ: &#x27;Disappointed&#x27; Pochettino says Balogun row no excuse for US World Cup exit</a></div><p>Players after the defeat denied it had impacted their focus or performance, but a bitter note was not difficult to detect.</p><p>&quot;It had no impact. We&#x27;ve done a good job with this group of allowing outside noise to be outside noise,&quot; said a visibly crestfallen captain Tim Ream.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s one of those things -- that&#x27;s the world we live in,&quot; said the 38-year-old, reflecting on what could have been.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Potential&#x27; -</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="960" height="540" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F1Hxk_J6xtM?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></div><p>Despite the gloom, the US campaign until Monday did capture the nation like never before.</p><p>Some 30 million Americans watched the English-language broadcast of the Belgium game alone. Once Spanish-language viewers are added in, the record will easily dwarf any soccer game in US history.</p><p>Soccer&#x27;s American boom was well in progress before the World Cup, with the sport eclipsing baseball by media rights value, and drawing billions in investment long before the tournament arrived.</p><p>But the US team&#x27;s progress remains uncertain, with Pochettino so far stalling on signing a contract extension, amid links to various European club teams.</p><p>The US Soccer federation Tuesday said talks with the coach will continue &quot;following a chance to rest and reflect,&quot; emphasizing &quot;excitement about our potential.&quot;</p><p>The statement concluded by recognizing &quot;the amount of work at all levels still required to achieve our ambition.&quot;</p>

<p>Despite hiring an elite coach, talking up a "golden generation" of players and even benefiting from White House pressure to get a striker unbanned, the US dream of a miracle World Cup win on home soil has ended exactly as it did four years ago.</p>

Despite hiring an elite coach, talking up a "golden generation" of players and even benefiting from White House pressure to get a striker unbanned, the US dream of a miracle World Cup win on home soil has ended exactly as it did four years ago.

'Flunked': US soccer seeks answers as World Cup dream shattered

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'Flunked': US soccer seeks answers as World Cup dream shattered

Andrew Marszal,

Agence France-Presse

Published July 08, 2026 04:58 PM PHT

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Updated July 08, 2026 04:59 PM PHT

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Seattle

United States

Team USA

Belgium

Mauricio Pochettino

Tyler Adams

Folarin Balogun

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