The United States Men's National Team got bulldozed out of the 2026 World Cup on Monday night, falling 4-1 to Belgium in the Round of 16, and the only shock is that anyone expected a different result. When your culture prioritizes everything except winning, you get performances like this — and ordinary Americans who still believe in national pride are left watching a clown show.
The match was never competitive. Belgium struck in the 9th minute when Charles De Ketelaere buried a ball the US defense couldn't clear, according to CNN's play-by-play. The Americans briefly equalized in the 31st minute off a Tillman free kick, but the reprieve lasted less than two minutes before De Ketelaere headed in his second. The back-breaking moment came in the 57th minute, when US goalkeeper Matt Freese came well out of his box, misplayed the ball off his chest, and watched Belgium's Hans Vanaken tap it into an empty net. Romelu Lukaku added a fourth in stoppage time to seal the humiliation.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy didn't mince words afterward. "US Soccer is not ready for primetime. I dont wanna be mean but this team is embarrassing," Portnoy posted on social media. "We're never gonna actually be good at this sport as long as out D tier athletes play it. What a clown show." In a follow-up video, Portnoy added: "Lights were way too bright for US soccer team. Stage way too big."
He's right, and the reasons aren't mysterious. US Soccer has spent years signaling its virtue rather than building its roster. This is the same federation that made a public show of demanding equal pay, that embraced every progressive cause crossing its radar, and that consistently treats the sport as a platform for social engineering rather than competition. The result is a team that couldn't advance past the Round of 16 on home soil.
CNN's coverage framed the loss as a competitive match that turned on a goalkeeper error and an injury to Christian Pulisic, noting Belgium was ranked No. 9 in the world and praising the Americans for stretches of possession. The Daily Caller focused on the embarrassment and Portnoy's blistering takedown. The truth is somewhere in between but closer to Portnoy: Belgium dominated from the opening kickoff, and the US never looked like it belonged on the same pitch.
Folarin Balogun, the striker controversially allowed to play by FIFA despite a red card in the previous match, had a chance to shift momentum but was denied by Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois on a one-on-one. It was that kind of night — and that kind of program.
The question isn't why the US lost. The question is why anyone still expects a federation obsessed with activism to produce a team capable of winning when it matters.
