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The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.

Good morning! Don’t get caught too far from the net today. Coming up:

• 🫣 USMNT’s dreams dashed
• 🫡 Ronaldo’s end
• 🚓 Inside Arnold’s arrest

Disasters: The agony of a major letdown

The U.S. men’s national team’s 4-1 loss to Belgium last night is devastating enough to warrant conversation over the space of years, not just 24 hours. We will be dissecting what went wrong in Seattle, and in the program overall, until the 2030 Cup rolls around. It was that bad.

For today, I think we need to look at this from three vantage points:

1. A 10-second disaster
It will be hard to forget the seconds I experienced between noticing that my phone had updated the score of last night’s game to 3-1 while my TV was a few seconds behind. Nothing seemed in danger. My phone was glitching, right?

Then, U.S. goalie Matt Freese struggled with a routine ball. It escaped his feet. Hans Vanaken curled it around both Freese and American defender Tim Ream for an easy goal. Instead of an uphill-yet-manageable 2-1 game, any realistic chance of winning went poof just an hour in. Just look at this:

Another look at Belgium’s third goal pic.twitter.com/71ldzuhbAk

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 7, 2026

We have a full accounting of the gaffe here. I won’t get over it for a while.

2. A week’s worth of shouting for nothing
The reinstatement of Folarin Balogun quite literally became an international political incident. President Donald Trump spoke loudly about it over the last two days. FIFA had to defend itself against a chorus of boos. A rejuvenated American squad got its best scorer back, just in time for the host country to make a deeper World Cup run than ever before.

And then Balogun barely touched the ball last night. He had just one shot on goal, which came far too late. It wasn’t all his fault; the entire U.S. team was listless in a bad first half, and Balogun didn’t have many chances. It still felt like a massive letdown after such a fuss.

• And it was quite a fuss. We have never had a Pulse Poll with more votes than yesterday’s edition, which asked you how you felt about Balogun’s reinstatement. The winner: that it was the right call to wave off his suspension while also being a bad look. Nearly 54 percent of you chose that, with another 32 percent saying it was just a bad look. Thank you for voting.

I agreed with that sentiment, too.

3. What do the next four years look like?
It is hard to believe that a team with so much hope behind it is already getting a eulogy. But much can change in the four years between World Cups. Will coach Mauricio Pochettino be back? There was chatter of an extension last month, but it’s unclear the status on both sides now. What about the roster? Christian Pulisic, who left this game with an injury, will be past 30, as will Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie.

And what of the impact on American soccer as a whole? After each men’s World Cup, we talk in the aftermath about how soccer will really catch on now. Does a loss this deflating puncture any momentum the sport has made with general fans? Maybe that’s hyperbolic. But I wonder how quickly the masses move on to American football in a few weeks.

• Next up for Belgium: A quarterfinal matchup with Spain, which dispatched Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo yesterday. Portugal, as our crew wrote, indulged Ronaldo and paid the price.

Let’s move on:

News to Know

Katie Stratman / Imagn Images

Former player indicted in fraud scheme
Kerr Kriisa, a former NCAA men’s basketball player, was indicted for wire fraud to the tune of $2.2 million, West Virginia court announced yesterday. Over his six-year college career, Kriisa played at Kentucky, Arizona, West Virginia and Cincinnati, and stands accused of carrying out his fraud scheme at each school. According to the indictment, Kriisa would pose as real and fictional people to request money from others. More details inside.

MLB reduces Cavalli suspension
Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli will now serve just a five-game suspension, down from seven, for his role in last week’s confrontation with Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras. After striking out Contreras, Cavalli yelled, “Sit down, boy,” a comment with racist overtones that was not received well. Cavalli has since apologized. Read our full story.

Coach charged with hazing, manslaughter
Former Bucknell strength coach Mark Kulbis was charged with criminal hazing and manslaughter in the death of a freshman football player in 2024, authorities announced yesterday. Calvin “C.J.” Dickey passed out after doing 100 up-downs and plank drills at Kulbis’ direction, and Kulbis didn’t seek help until after the player was unconscious. See more here.

More news:

• French superstar Kylian Mbappé called out the “blatant racism” of a Paraguayan senator. Read his comments.
  
• The Kings waived DeMar DeRozan, who will become one of the top free agents on the market.
  
• Portugal coach Roberto Martinez confirmed earlier reports that he is departing his post following yesterday’s loss.
  
• On the heels of Balogun’s reinstatement, France petitioned FIFA to rescind Michael Olise’s yellow card against Paraguay. Full story here.

📰Find more news here 24/7.

Watch Guide

📺 Tennis: Wimbledon quarterfinals
8 a.m. ET on ESPN networks
A huge day in London, with Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic each playing on the men’s side, along with Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka hitting the grass on the women’s. Here’s your morning.

📺 World Cup: Round of 16
Noon and 4 p.m. ET on Fox and Telemundo
It’s an early day of games for us, with Lionel Messi and Argentina leading off against Mo Salah and Egypt at noon. The winner plays the victor of Switzerland-Colombia (4 p.m.), which is a sneaky elite game. Any time we get to watch Messi play is good.

📺 MLB: Yankees at Rays
6:40 p.m. ET on TBS
These are the top two teams in both the AL East and the entire American League. Easy sell.

📺 WNBA: Wings at Liberty
8 p.m. ET on ESPN
A star-filled playoff matchup, in primetime, on ESPN. If you’re not doing baseball, book this. New York is No. 1 in our latest Power Rankings, too.

Pulse Picks

We have the inside story of the violent weekend that led to Terrion Arnold’s arrest. It’s a must-read.

Know anything about Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg? Read this feature from Marcus Thompson II and try not to be a fan.

NASCAR is changing its title sponsor. It’s incredible how much work goes into swapping a few words.

Make time for the inside story of how Alexander Ovechkin decided to return for a final season. It’s not just for a farewell tour.

Prevailing wisdom tells us rookie cards are the most valuable collectible. That’s not exactly true anymore, though.

Should the College Football Playoff expand? The newly larger World Cup might have some answers.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The Balogun poll.

Most-read on the website yesterday: USMNT-Belgium live blog.