WORLD CUP DAILY: Poch sleepless in Seattle | Ronaldo's WC journey ends, but will Messi's continue?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
They were so wrapped in the game, they forgot to do their job. They switched off. And we needed them to do their job. There's 15,000 of them behind me. Do your job.
Join in the obsession. Subscribe now at offtheball.com forward slash join. World Cup Daily on Off The Ball. With Lynx, a proud sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026. and welcome along to Tuesday's World Cup Daily. I'm Phil Egan. Coming up today, Belgium dump the USA out of the World Cup despite following Balagoon's inclusion in the team. Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup dream ends after Mikel Mourinho puts Spain through to the last eight. And tonight, it's Messi against Salah with Argentina up against Egypt. But first, Charles Akedalara scored twice for Belgium in their 4-1 win over the USA in Seattle last night. It means all three co-hosts have now been knocked out of the World Cup. Following, Balogun started from Maurizio Pochettino's side after US President Donald Trump asked FIFA to review Balogun's ban following his red card in the previous round against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The US were outplayed despite making it 1-1 with a deflected free kick from Malik Tillman. Hans Van Acken and Romelu Lukaku scored second-half goals for Belgium, who lost Amadou Onana in the first half due to a knee injury, and it has since been confirmed it was a crucial injury for the Aston Villa midfielder. Belgium will play Spain in the quarter-finals in LA on Friday. US manager Maurizio Pochettino defended their right to appeal the Balogun suspension and also denied it affected their performance.
I am disappointed in a personal way because I think we should talk about that is the possibility to apply for that situation. But that is not an excuse to say, oh, we didn't perform because of that. That is not true.
Pochettino also said he'll take time to consider his position.
I think we build a very good relationship, but now is a moment to see, to assess the tournament, you know, and for sure in the next weeks we can start to talk if the federation want to talk."
El Marino came off the bench to score in injury time for Spain to knock Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo out of the World Cup in their last 16 tie in Dallas. Ferran Torres set up his fellow substitute to give the European champions a 1-0 win, a repeat result from the same stage in 2010 when Spain went on to win their first and only World Cup. That loss for Portugal ended 41-year-old Ronaldo's World Cup career after he confirmed this tournament would be his last. And on this morning's Off the Ball Breakfast, author and journalist Richard Fitzpatrick joined Colin Buick and Gerard Gilroy and the three lads debated if Ronaldo's international career was a success despite winning three trophies.
And Ronaldo is, considering Ronaldo and his achievements and his expectations as well, has this been a successful international career for him?
What happened in the Belgium vs USA World Cup match?
Because on one hand you have the Euros 2016, where he's essential to that, and he goes off early in the final, but without Ronaldo, they wouldn't have won the Euro 2016 for sure. He's the first player to score in six men's World Cups, but at the same time, I don't think he ever scored a goal from open play in a knockout game, and of course didn't win the World Cup, and he's forever compared to Messi in that regard. And I wonder, all in all, it's more successful than not, I imagine, but it feels like more could have been achieved.
Yeah, it's hard to know. We set the bar very high. Portugal is a very small country. I think winning the Euros was an extraordinary achievement for them to win a major tournament. On the other side, maybe he didn't deliver in the very big knockout games in World Cups. But I would still take it in the cold light of day to win a European Championship for Spain, their first major tournament victory. Given the resources they have, although it's been pointed out they have a golden generation. Again, they're an amazing team, but Figo couldn't do it back in the early noughties, you know, with the great Portugal side as well.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–3:01
2
What happened in the Belgium vs USA World Cup match?
3:01–4:26
3
How did Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup journey come to an end?
4:26–8:15
4
How did Pochettino defend the US team's performance?
8:15–12:25
5
What does Ronaldo's international legacy look like?
12:25–13:29
Speakers
6 identifiedMore from OTB Football
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