Was the USA's World Cup a success or failure?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Athletic FC.
Hi there and welcome to The Athletic FC podcast with me, Emma Payton. After a controversy-filled build-up, the USA are beaten by Belgium, Spain left it late to see off Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal, and just why is Oliver Glasner going to Nottingham Forest? Well, here with me in the studio, we have The Athletic's Mark Critchley and Jay Harris is back. Tell us all about Chi-Town. How was it?
Yeah, it was really good. And to be honest, one of my favourite things about the two weeks I was out there was watching the Mexico games, watching the US games with some of the locals and just experiencing the World Cup from their perspective, particularly the US fans, just to see some people who are probably not normally the biggest football fans or soccer fans is now just ingrained in my brain. And just seeing how they viewed the World Cup and how they experienced it was quite a cool experience.
You came back at the right time. You left the tournament when they did.
Yeah, I did. The party is well and truly over now.
Are you feeling all right, though? Are you jet-lagged?
A tiny bit jet-lagged, but, you know, I'll get myself back up. It's the World Cup, you know.
You've missed out on being here in our studio. We've been holding it down, haven't we, Gridge?
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you have, yeah. Me personally, yeah.
You personally, yeah.
But Jay's on World Cup time still and it's the World Cup, so that makes sense.
Yeah, that works actually. Right, let's get to the action then. Much of the build-up to USA Belgium was, of course, dominated by the availability of Follerin Balogun following Donald Trump's phone call to Gianni Infantino. But post-match, well, the headlines centre around the USA's elimination from the tournament after falling to a 4-1 defeat. We're going to get into all of that in the studio very shortly. But first, here's The Athletic's Henry Bushnell, who was in Seattle.
For about a month, this US Men's National Team built so much hope and hype and expectation and enthusiasm around the country. And over 90 minutes here at Lumen Field, it just totally fizzled out. It didn't just peter out, it thudded to the floor. And it's gone. And the World Cup is over for this USMNT. The players were kind of shocked in the mixed zone just now. Gio Reyna said, you know, we all felt that we were going to be going back to Los Angeles for a quarterfinal. Obviously, a lot of people on the outside are going to be pointing to the whole Fuller and Balogun controversy, the red card, Trump's involvement, US soccer, all these things on the outside. The players insist that wasn't a problem. In the end, they just weren't good enough.
And that's been the story of this. That was the story today. It was the story in 2022 when they played the Netherlands. It was the story in 2014 when they played Belgium. It was the story in 2010 when they played Ghana. It's been the story of this program for decades and I think the most disheartening part of this is that despite all the hope and momentum and enthusiasm of the past month, it's the same old result. And I think that's going to prompt a lot of difficult questions coming out of this. Has any progress really been made? Are we overestimating the talent on this team, the talent that U.S. soccer is producing right now? Where do we go from here? I don't think there are answers to that right now.
There was so much put into this team from the investment in the head coach, Mauricio Pochettino, to the marketing around this team and the size of this moment. And in the end, none of it mattered. The only thing that mattered was Belgium was better. That's what the players said. They kind of laughed off the US. They thought they were underestimated. And they beat them down.
Yeah, I mean, they certainly did beat them down, didn't they? For more on the USA's elimination, do check out the match piece from our team of USMNT writers, Henry, of course, Paul Tenorio and Tom Boga as well, because that is titled USMNT's World Cup ends against Belgium with sloppy last 16 showing.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–5:07
2
How did the USA vs Belgium match end and why did it dominate headlines?
5:07–6:41
3
What was the fan and stadium reaction in Seattle after the USMNT defeat?
6:41–24:39
4
Which tactical and individual failings did reporters blame for the USA's elimination?
24:39–32:39
5
Did the Balogun-Trump controversy affect the USA-Belgium game and tournament integrity?
32:39–42:04