From Where I Sit: We're Losing Forward

Silence. A crowd of 15,000 people sits completely silent. The moment seems to stretch on forever. Sound rushes back across the plaza at America First Field as the match commentators recover from the shock. Romelu Lukaku just ended the United States hopes of a World Cup on home soil in the 93rd minute. The score is now 4-1, no hope of recovery as the final seconds tick away. The US Men's National Team, like many fans at the watch party at AFF, is going home.

This was not the exit from the tournament I was hoping for as I sat below the screen in the plaza watching the US fans packing up their blankets, flags, and scarves. My disappointment was quickly replaced by confusion. Earlier this year, if you'd told me that the US would make it to the round of 16 again before exiting, I would have been elated. So why was I, and the stadium full of US fans, so deflated? 

In this match, Belgium was clearly the better side. They took more shots, created more big chances, and ultimately scored more goals. A glaring spotlight was shown on the weakest position for the US, the goalkeeper. Matt Freese, who earned a 4.6 match rating, proved that. This match, in many ways, echoed the last World Cup meeting between the two sides in 2014, when Belgium also sent the US men home in the round of 16. The scoreline was ugly, yes, but it doesn't give the whole picture of where the USMNT is and where it's heading.

Let's sum up the performance of the USMNT in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The team got the ball rolling with a 4-1 win over a strong Paraguay side. Followed by a 2-0 win over the Socceroos of Australia. A disappointing last-second loss by the B-team to a strong Turkiye side. A 2-0 bounce back over Bosnia & Herzegovina that electrified the fans across the country. Concluding in a 4-1 loss to Belgium. For the first time, the USMNT won 3 games in a World Cup, a knockout win for the first time in 24 years, and performances that show meaningful depth at multiple positions. By nearly any historical standard for the USMNT, this was a successful World Cup, but that only makes the disappointment sting that much more.

The US is no longer just trying to survive the group stage. They're showing they belong in the knockout stage. It should feel like a victory. So why does it feel like such a punch to the gut? I believe it all comes down to a simple chain of cause and effect. The US is experiencing real growth in the world of soccer. That progress created belief. That belief created expectations. Those expectations made this loss feel different. That bitter taste in the mouths of millions of Americans is wasted potential. For the first time, the USMNT put together performances that made the public believe that the US had a chance at the cup. 

The US was, at one time, a team that depended on a moment of magic. Outclassed at every position, the 'miracle goals' were the only shot they had. Even as recently as 2014, the US needed Tim Howard to play the best games of his life in order to cling to any hope of advancing out of the group stage. By all accounts, making it to the round of 16 at all in 2014 was a miracle. We were proud to be there. Proud to steal a result. Proud to defy expectations. This summer felt different. In this tournament, it wasn't a miracle that sent the team into the knockout rounds. The conversation wasn't about whether the United States belonged. It was about whether this team had squandered an opportunity. That's an entirely different standard, and it's one US Soccer has earned.

A dominant showing through the first two games led the US to the knockouts after winning their group. The only group stage loss coming from a throwaway game where the B-team got a chance to lead the charge with 10 starters rotated out of the starting XI. In years past, rotating that many starters would have led to an unmitigated disaster of a loss. The depth now present in the USMNT is a luxury that no other iteration of the team has ever enjoyed. Turkiye put out its best possible team in an attempt to get a win and salvage their wounded pride. Objectively, a very strong side, Turkiye had to rely on a miracle to get that game-winner. A match that in previous years would have highlighted a lack of depth from the US did the exact opposite this time around. It showed the growth in quality of the US bench. The gap between the bench and the starters is smaller than ever. 

With these performances, we see why the fans were crushed this time around. Not necessarily because of the loss, which was a hard pill to swallow, but because the early performances and caliber of the team made us all believe a deeper run was possible. That is what has changed. American fans were not satisfied with making it to the knockouts. They wanted more. They believed in more. The silence that enveloped the plaza at AFF wasn't the silence of a fanbase embarrassed by its team. It was the sound of 15,000 people realizing that something they genuinely believed in was suddenly gone.

Progress, however, cannot be confused with arrival. There are still significant gaps that need to be addressed. Belgium put a spotlight on that fact. The US still suffers from mentality problems and a lack of consistency at some positions. The gaping hole that exists at the keeper position was the undoing of any hopes to advance beyond the round of 16. The USMNT needs to call up more players who can make a difference in tough matches and fewer players who think they don't need to work for their spot. 

The players being developed in the US system see what is being accomplished and are beginning to see the previous ceiling as the new floor. Each generation coming up is better than the last, and they're hungry. They are ready to challenge the incumbent players to get their moment on the biggest stage in soccer. The next step that this new generation will have to figure out isn't going to be how to make the knockouts; it will be how to take down an elite team like Belgium. Then figure out how to do it 5 times in a row in a single tournament.

So we lose forward. That doesn't mean we celebrate the loss or pretend that getting smacked 4-1 by Belgium is some kind of victory. It means that the US takes these moments and learns from them. Each exit from a tournament. Each defeat in a friendly. They teach the group something about itself. From the ashes of each defeat emerges a more resilient group, marching towards that inevitable day when the USMNT raises the most important trophy in sports.

While mourning the defeat of their national team, the fans at America First Field pack up their blankets, flags, and scarves. They aren't leaving to celebrate. Most are still in the throes of their disappointment of what might have been. That disappointment birthed from something US Soccer has been trying to build for decades: expectation. The fans see that the USMNT isn't where they want to be yet. Belgium made us all painfully aware of that. But the team is moving forward. They're learning. The coaching staff is building something with the players. As I watch the fans exit and hear their lamentations, I can sense they feel the same thing I do. Sometimes this is what progress looks like. Moments of hope that are snuffed out in disappointment, but still pressing on. From where the fans stand, there is hope. 

From where I sit, we're losing forward.