Бельгийн шигшээ баг Маурисио Почеттиногоор удирдуулсан АНУ-ын багийг 4:1-ээр буулган авснаар талбайн эздийн тэмцээн дуусгавар боллоо.
Сиэтл хотноо болсон тоглолтын эхэнд Чарльз Де Кетеларе хоёр гоол оруулж Бельгийн давуу талыг тогтоосон бол АНУ-ын Малик Тиллман чөлөөт цохилтоос хариу барьж итгэл төрүүлсэн юм. Гэвч хоёрдугаар хагаст хаалгач Мэтт Фризийн алдааг ашиглан Ханс Ванакен, сэлгээнээс орж ирсэн Ромелу Лукаку нар гоолдсоноор Бельги шөвгийн наймд шалгарлаа. АНУ-ын хувьд өөрийн талбайдаа зохион байгуулж буй ДАШТ-д хангалттай бэлтгэлтэй байсан ч сэтгэл зүйн дарамт болон системийн дутагдлаас болж шөвгийн 16-аас цааш явж чадсангүй.
Даваа гарагт болсон өөр нэгэн чухал тоглолтод Испани Португалийг 1:0-ээр хожиж, шөвгийн наймд Бельгитэй учраа таарахаар боллоо. Тоглолтын хувь заяаг Арсеналын хагас хамгаалагч Микел Мерино нэмэлт цагт шийдвэрлэснээр Криштиану Роналдугийн ДАШТ-д оролцох карьер өндөрлөв. Роналдугийн хувьд шигшээ багийнхаа төлөө 232 тоглолтод оролцож, 146 гоол оруулсан түүхэн амжилтаар карьераа үдэж байна.
Францын шигшээ багийн ахлагч Килиан Мбаппе Парагвайн сенатор Селесте Амариллаг өөрийнх нь талаар гаргасан арьс өнгөөр ялгаварлан гадуурхсан мэдэгдлийнх нь төлөө хатуу шүүмжилж, талбайн гаднах манлайллаа харууллаа. Тэмцээний дараагийн шатанд Аргентин болон Египет, Швейцар болон Колумбын багууд өрсөлдөхөөр бэлтгэлээ хангаж байна. Лионель Мессигийн хувьд ДАШТ-ий найман тоглолт дараалан гоолдсон амжилтаа үргэлжлүүлэхээр Атлантад талбайд гарна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
The American dream is over. After years of preparation, months of excitement and weeks of daring to dream, the U.S. is out of its home World Cup.
Belgium was just too good for Mauricio Pochettino’s team, who came up comfortably short and succumbed to a 4-1 defeat in Seattle, where the occasion fell horribly flat.
At times, it was tough to watch. While Belgium was slick, fast and decisive, the U.S. was laboured, limited and error-prone.
Charles De Ketelaere was Belgium’s hero with two early goals and, while Malik Tillman’s deflected free kick had briefly given the hosts hope in between, Belgium clinically made its superiority count with second-half strikes from Hans Vanaken (via a horrible error from goalkeeper Matt Freese) and substitute Romelu Lukaku.
Belgium will play Spain in Los Angeles for a place in the semi-finals after the latter saw off Iberian neighbours Portugal in a drab encounter in Dallas, settled by Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino’s stoppage-time winner.
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That result spelt the end of Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup career and possibly his international one, too. He cried at full time; the World Cup is the only major trophy he has never won in his glittering career.
Monday’s results
Portugal 0-1 Spain
USA 1-4 Belgium
Will the U.S. ever contend for the World Cup?
Home advantage can help you win a World Cup. England (1966), France (1998) and four other nations in the tournament’s history can tell you that.
Hiring a big-name coach can help you win a World Cup (Marcelo Lippi with Italy in 2006 and Didier Deschamps with France, 2018).
Having lots of money surely helps. Big stadiums, lots of fans, an enthusiastic nation, that’s all good too. Oh, and having a president able to pull strings on the team’s behalf to help get your star striker free from suspension in a completely unprecedented decision in the history of the World Cup, that’s pretty helpful.
All of which begs the question; with all those advantages behind them, if the USMNT isn’t a serious contender to win a World Cup now, when will it ever be?
All of the above, all that investment, all that time, all that planning, didn’t even get the USMNT past the stage they always reach, the last 16. That’s the level it progressed to in its previous three World Cup appearances, in 2010, 2014 and 2022.
Yes, the USMNT had an extra round to navigate this time, with an expanded tournament of 48 nations meaning an extra round-of-32 stage after the groups, in which Pochettino’s side beat Bosnia-Herzegovina, but that was not mission accomplished.
It was galling and humbling to lose this way. Expectations were huge, amplified by that opening 4-1 victory over Paraguay, but realistically, what has changed in four years? And what has to change for the USMNT to realistically challenge its European, South American and African opponents?
As Henry Bushnell wrote on the eve of the tournament, perhaps until there is more systemic change — plus player development, pathways and the cost of playing the sport — the country won’t produce world-class players.
“Until we, as a nation, adopt a more consistent soccer culture, we will always be faced with more challenges than our counterparts around the world,” John Hackworth, an experienced coach at various levels in the U.S., said in that article.
Against Belgium, the USMNT choked, plain and simple. It froze, it dithered, it watched Belgium play, it made mistakes and it was hard to avoid the conclusion that the occasion got the better of it.
That can happen with players who aren’t used to such a big stage, with the chance to make the quarter-finals for the first time since 2002 and maybe even go further still. Right now, it is hard to envisage the USMNT being able to achieve that.
How much will we miss Ronaldo?
Well, that’s that. A world-record 232 international appearances, a world-record 146 international goals, but we have surely seen the last of Cristiano Ronaldo on the World Cup stage.
They may organise a farewell friendly in Lisbon so his adoring Portuguese public can bid farewell (no jokes about Liechtenstein being the opposition so he can score some goals), but surely not even Mr Washboard Stomach himself will still be around for the 2030 World Cup, even if it is being co-hosted in Portugal.
We’ll all miss him, won’t we? His many adoring fans will, a fascinated wider football public undoubtedly will and, yes, even those who can’t stand a man who might have the biggest ego in sport might miss him too.
Ronaldo struggled to contain his emotions at the final whistle (Thomas COEX / AFP via Getty Images)
Why? Because, as we’ll all realise when he stops playing, there is no one like Ronaldo. There never has been before and there may never be again.
The drama, the pouting, the histrionics, the knowing looks to camera, the showmanship, the winking, the ‘will he/won’t he’ celebrate a teammate scoring, the ‘how angry will he be if his team mate doesn’t pass to him’ and, of course, the goals. So many goals. It’s all that makes Ronaldo TV so utterly compelling, love him or hate him.
Portugal fans’ message to Cristiano Ronaldo
Reuben Pinder and Joe Crisalli
Perhaps you adore the man. Perhaps you think that the manner in which he has achieved almost incomparable goalscoring greatness, via incessant desire, work rate, and sacrifices, is inspirational and completely relatable to whatever you do in life. He’s going to become the first footballer ever to score 1,000 goals, he’s already the first football billionaire. His accomplishments are remarkable.
Perhaps you dislike the man, the ego and the shameless bravado, but you still tune in anyway, like for a tacky soap opera or cringeworthy reality show.
But either way, there is no doubting his fame and popularity transcends the sport. To attend a match that Ronaldo is playing in, like we have seen at this World Cup or the last Euros, is akin to a pop concert. The number of people who wear a shirt with his name on the back is extraordinary, the number of people running around stadiums squealing ‘siuuuu’ is eye-popping (and a little disconcerting), and the manner in which people scream when he touches the ball or appears on the big screen is almost unfathomable for a footballer.
Messi is adored and idolised as much as Ronaldo, but he is not fanaticized anywhere near as deeply as Ronaldo.
Forget the preening and the peacocking, he has been a global force of nature. We’ll all miss him.
How impressive was Mbappe’s intervention?
While Ronaldo and possibly Messi exit stage left, the torch of football’s current GOAT (if you forgive the oxymoron) will soon pass to Kylian Mbappe.
It’s worth noting, then, what an eloquent ambassador for the game the Frenchman is maturing into.
Footballers don’t get into the sport to become spokespeople, but as global icons, it’s part of the gig for the Mbappe, Lamine Yamal, Erling Haaland et al., whether they choose to engage or not.
Mbappe does. He boldly called out Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla, who had disgustingly called the France captain “a colonised Cameroonian” after their heated round-of-16 clash on Saturday.
Mbappe could have ignored it, but he chose to confront Amarilla head-on and did so with grace and intelligence, separating Amarilla from Paraguay, despite the provocation he had faced from the Paraguayans during the match.
Kylian Mbappe spoke out after a racist attack by a Paraguayan politician (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
“Ms Celeste Amarilla, you are a despicable woman, unworthy of your position,” Mbappe posted on social media. “You do not represent Paraguay, a country that has shown such passion and honour throughout the tournament. Because of your thoughtlessness and your blatant racism, the whole world has already forgotten the historic journey and effort your players made during this World Cup.”
It’s not the first time Mbappe has elected to take on a serious issue, having pleaded for violence to stop in France in 2023 after protests gripped the country when a teenager was shot dead by police.
“Violence solves nothing, especially when it inevitably turns against those who are expressing it,” he said at the time.
Yamal, another who fits the football superstar bracket, has not shied away from publicly highlighting important issues, such as anti-Muslim chants during a Spain versus Egypt match, while he is an ambassador for UNICEF.
It is easy to stay quiet and do nothing. Thankfully, Mbappe and Yamal aren’t that way inclined.
What to know about Tuesday’s games
On paper, Tuesday represents the least appetising day in the round of 16, but we should all know better than to underestimate this World Cup.
After all, if Cape Verde can take Argentina and Messi to extra time, then what can Egypt and Mohamed Salah do?
The north African side haven’t been at their best yet but remain unbeaten in the competition, having drawn with Belgium and then Australia in the last 32, where they triumphed on penalties. Do they have any serious hope of stopping Messi from scoring? He has found the net in eight World Cup games in a row and will look to extend that all-time record in Atlanta.
The quarter-final line-up of this year’s World Cup will then be completed by Switzerland or dark horses Colombia in what looks like a pretty even contest in Vancouver.
Fixtures
Argentina vs Egypt (1pm ET, 10am PT, 5pm BST)
Switzerland vs Colombia (4pm ET, 1pm PT, 9pm BST)
