USA forward Christian Pulisic called the co-hosts' 4-1 Round of 16 loss to Belgium a "disappointing" finish to their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign, according to FIFA's official website. Despite the defeat, Pulisic said the team was proud of its overall performance in the tournament but acknowledged that Belgium's clinical play proved decisive.
Pulisic on the match
"Up until today, we are very proud and I thought we did a lot of good things, but for sure [it was] just a disappointing way to end. We played against a very good team [that was] very clinical in both ends of the pitch, and we weren't exactly so... that's where the game is won in the boxes, so it was not quite enough from us today," Pulisic told FIFA. He added that the team gave its best effort and hoped fans recognized their commitment despite falling short of their goals.
Teammates echo disappointment
Sergino Dest echoed Pulisic's sentiments, saying the team was proud but disappointed with the result, believing they could have done more. "I don't have a lot of words, we're really disappointed. It just wasn't our day. We are proud but we felt that we could have done more than what we did, so at the moment we're just disappointed," Dest said.
Chris Richards expressed hope that the World Cup run marks the beginning of greater success, adding that reaching the quarter-finals should become the standard for the group and the federation. "Hopefully this is just the [beginning] of what's to come for this group and this federation. I think it should be the normal, at least the quarter-finals. Hopefully we've drawn a line in the sand for the future," Richards said.
USA's World Cup campaign
In their World Cup campaign, the USA defeated Paraguay 4-1, Australia 2-0, and Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 in the Round of 32, while suffering a 3-2 defeat to Turkey before being knocked out by Belgium. The team exited as the last of the three co-host nations after Canada and Mexico were eliminated earlier.
Belgium's dominant victory
Belgium stormed into the quarter-finals with a commanding 4-1 victory over the United States at Seattle Stadium. Charles De Ketelaere scored a brace and earned the Player of the Match award, while Hans Vanaken netted his first-ever FIFA World Cup goal. Substitute Romelu Lukaku added a stoppage-time strike, marking his third consecutive World Cup match with a goal.
Belgium dominated much of the contest despite the USA briefly equalizing through Malik Tillman's deflected free-kick. A costly goalkeeping error by Matt Freese allowed Belgium to extend their lead before Lukaku sealed the emphatic win late on. Belgium will next face Spain in the quarter-finals on July 10 after Spain knocked out Portugal in the Round of 16.
