At three months from the start of the World Cup, the United States did not reassure against Belgium. At the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, under Mauricio Pochettino, they were outclassed by the Red Devils (2-5), after a game where the Americans initially showed promise in the first half before completely collapsing in the second. For this match, Team USA lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with four Ligue 1 players in the starting XI: McKenzie (Toulouse) and Weah (OM) in defense, Tessmann (OL) in midfield, and Balogun (AS Monaco) up front. On the other side, Rudi Garcia positioned his players in a similar system with Lammens in goal, Meunier (LOSC) in defense, and De Bruyne – returning – behind Charles De Ketelaere.
After initially scoring against Lammens (16th minute), Weston McKennie eventually beat the Manchester United goalkeeper (38th minute, 1-0) following a corner taken by Robinson. The Belgians then equalized with a strike from Zeno Debast before halftime (45th minute, 1-1). In the second half, Christian Pulisic put on a show in the Belgian box before missing his shot. Almost immediately after, the visitors took the lead thanks to Amadou Onana (53rd minute, 1-2). Six minutes later, Tim Ream handled the ball in the box, allowing De Ketelaere to score from the penalty spot (59th minute, 1-3). Just after coming on, Dodi Lukebakio joined the party with a beautiful left-footed curler (68th minute, 1-4), before scoring again after a USA defensive error (82nd minute, 1-5). Agyemang then took advantage of a Tielemans error to reduce the deficit towards the end of the game (87th minute, 2-5), but it was not enough to salvage the honor of the United States, who were soundly beaten before facing Portugal in a few days.
Published on: 28/03/2026 22:34 Last updated on: 29/03/2026 16:33
