Is USA out of the World Cup? What's next for USMNT after 4-1 loss to Belgium

Is USA out of the World Cup? What’s next for USMNT after 4-1 loss to Belgium originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The United States entered Monday with a ton of pressure to keep its World Cup dream alive, but Belgium had other ideas.

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The Belgian team produced an impressive 4-1 victory in Seattle, handing the United States its worst loss of the World Cup. While many American fans believed this USMNT could do special things, that wasn’t the case on Monday night.

Here’s what the USMNT loss means for the program moving forward.

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With the United States’ loss to Belgium on Monday, the USMNT is officially eliminated from the 2026 World Cup.

The United States began the tournament strongly with two wins in the group stage and clinched first place in Group D before even playing its final group match. Entering the knockout stage, the USMNT was one of several teams that needed to win to stay alive.

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While the USMNT beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32 to advance to the Round of 16, the team’s tournament came to an end against Belgium. The United States finishes the World Cup with a 3-0-2 record.

MORE: USMNT player ratings vs. Belgium

What’s next for USA?

Now that the United States is eliminated from the World Cup, the team’s eyes turn to the 2030 tournament.

The biggest question is who will be coaching the team in four years. The USMNT hired Mauricio Pochettino specifically for this World Cup, and now that the tournament is over, Pochettino is free to look for employment elsewhere.

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While the United States surely wants Pochettino back in the fold, he will likely find a better job somewhere else moving forward. That means the team needs to find a coach who can build off this run and get the USMNT back to the quarterfinals.

On the field, the United States should bring back much of this squad in four years as only two non-goalies are currently over 30 years-old. The most notable loss will be defender Tim Ream, who is the oldest player on the team at 38, but players like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKinnie, Tyler Adams, Falorin Balogun and Mark Tillman will still be in their prime for the next tournament,

MORE: Matt Freese’s disaster leads to third Belgium goal

USMNT World Cup history

The USMNT has only advanced beyond the Round of 16 twice, with their best finish coming in the first World Cup in 1930. Since then, the only time the United States reached the quarterfinal round was in 2002, when they beat Mexico in the knockout stage.