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Twelve years ago, nearly to the day, members of the U.S. Men’s National Team sat in stunned silence on a field in Brazil after losing a heartbreaker to Belgium in the 2014 World Cup.
Despite goalkeeper Tim Howard’s heroic performance and forward Chris Wondolowski’s near miss that would have likely ended the game in regulation, the USMNT were outclassed by a final score of 2-1 in the round of 16.
Fast forward to Monday night, and a team of American men that was previously anointed “the golden generation,” sat in a similarly stunned fashion after being blitzed by an almost completely different team of Belgians on their home turf in Seattle.
It begs the question: has anything changed in the last 12 years?
I mean, after all, following that loss to Belgium at the 2014 World Cup, many pundits predicted the Americans were on the up and up when it came to soccer, and that a close loss to such a quality opponent meant the USMNT was on the fast track to success.
But just three years later, the program bottomed out with an embarrassing loss to Trinidad and Tobago in the last game of the qualifying rounds that kept them out of the 2018 World Cup.
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The 2022 iteration of the USMNT didn’t fare much better, gritting their way through the group stages in Qatar before once again bowing out in the round of 16 to a superior European squad (Netherlands).
And now we have this result, a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of a Belgian team in the midst of a fading “golden generation” of their own.
Superstars like Eden Hazard, Kevin DeBruyne, and Vincent Kompany who were the engines of those Belgian squads from the 2010s were nowhere to be found on Monday night, but the results were still the same – worse, even.
So again, I ask: what changed?
It would be reductive to look at just the result against Belgium and say, “nothing,” but you would also be removing the previous three weeks of soccer that directly preceded Monday evening’s blowout loss.
Yes, the team looked out of sorts as if the moment was too big for them.
Yes, their best player, Christian Pulisic, was dreadful when his country needed him the most.
These things can be true, but what’s also true is this is still the most talented team many of us have seen in the Red, White, and Blue in our lifetimes.
The 2026 World Cup was the first time the USMNT had won back-to-back games at the world tournament since 1930, and the team won a game in the knockout round for the first time since 2002.
This is one of the most prolific offenses America has ever produced, and many of their young stars, like Malik Tillman and Folarin Balogun, are only just now entering their primes.
In World Cups past, American fans would have prayed for results like the ones they saw against Paraguay, Australia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It wasn’t that long ago where a 0-0 draw against teams of their ilk would have been seen as “getting the job done.”
Now, this team and this country expects to pick up three points against “inferior” opponents.
Go back and look at what pundits were predicting against Paraguay before the start of the World Cup. I can assure you that no one was expecting a 4-1 smackdown.
The team and program has a long way to grow still.
Nowhere was that more evident than on the pitch in Seattle on Monday.
Belgium looked like they belonged in a game of that magnitude, while the USMNT wilted when the spotlight got hot.
That has to change, there is no getting around that.
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But while we wipe the taste of that loss from our mouths, let’s also look back and appreciate the heights we have reached in the past month.
America is expected to win games in the knockout rounds of the World Cup, and that alone is massive progress.
We no longer have to sit around and pray for a 1-0 victory where our only goal comes from a corner kick.
That’s growth.
So, to answer the question: yes, the USMNT has gotten better in the last decade. Appreciably so.
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There’s work to be done, but we should also appreciate the work that’s already been done.
Thanks to the U.S. Men’s National Team for a tournament that Americans will never forget.
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