'We fell short' - From Christian Pulisic’s quiet World Cup to Mauricio Pochettino’s missed expectations: Winners and losers from the USMNT’s loss vs Belgium | Goal.com

For almost a week, the U.S. Men's National Team was engulfed by the status of Folarin Balogun after he was given a controversial red card in last Wednesday's win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. The debate stretched from whether the initial decision was fair to the automatic one-game ban being suspended, with the White House claiming some influence over the process. The unfortunate reality was that Balogun showed up, but few of his teammates did, as the USMNT's World Cup journey came to a crashing end in a 4-1 defeat to Belgium. "We were not good enough today," Mauricio Pochettino said after the match. "We don't need to find another excuse; I think we were not good enough once in our day. We didn't perform in the way that we were supposed to perform or show our quality." Pochettino insisted on multiple occasions that Balogun's inclusion and President Donald Trump's comments on the situation did not factor into the result. But that does not ultimately change the reality. After capturing the imagination of the nation, the USMNT's World Cup dream was over. "We gave our all, but today just wasn't our best day," Tyler Adams told FOX after the loss. For stretches of the tournament, Pochettino's side looked capable of making a genuine run at the trophy. But the flaws that lingered throughout the buildup to the World Cup - particularly at the back - resurfaced at the worst possible moment. The U.S. made four major mistakes, Belgium punished every one of them, and the final score could easily have been even more lopsided. "Belgium were better than us, and that's it. This was very clear," Pochettino said. With the Americans once again falling short of the quarterfinals, a stage they have not reached since 2002, questions will inevitably be asked about why one of the nation's most talented generations could not take the next step. "This was a moment to have the opportunity to advance and really try and do something special. We fell short," Adams told reporters. GOAL breaks down the winners and losers from Seattle.