USMNT’s World Cup dream comes crashing down against Netherlands
A promising World Cup ended with a thud Saturday for the United States.
The U.S. men’s national team suffered its first loss of the tournament, 3-1 to the Netherlands in Al Rayyan, Qatar, and was bounced in the knockout round.
Coach Gregg Berhalter’s young American squad, after failing to qualify in 2018 in Russia, conceded two first half goals and one in the second to fall short of earning its first quarterfinal berth since 2002. The Netherlands, which advanced to at least the quarterfinals for the third time in the past four World Cups, next will face Argentina, which beat Australia 2-1 in the Round of 16, on Friday.
“This is a tough one to swallow for us. The guys put everything they had into it and tonight we came up short, but it wasn’t for lack of trying or a lack of effort,” Berhalter said after his team’s elimination. “The first half was a great indication of the game being about moments. We were on top for a lot of the first half and two moments come and all of a sudden we’re 2-0 down.
“The message was that soccer can be cruel sometimes.”
The United States will be one of the host nations at the 2026 World Cup in North America, but the 49-year-old Berhalter — whose style of play and lineup decisions were questioned during the tournament — is uncertain to return. His contract will expire at the end of this year.
“In the next couple of weeks, I’ll sit down and clear my head and think about what’s next,” he added.
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Christian Pulisic, 24 years old and one of the linchpins of the team’s emerging core, certainly figures to be on that 2026 squad. The Chelsea player had the match’s first glorious chance, in alone behind the Netherlands’ back line on an entry feed from captain Tyler Adams in the second minute. But he didn’t get much on his left-footed shot about 12 yards from the goal and it was kicked aside by Dutch keeper Andries Noppert.
Pulisic was in the starting lineup after being taken to a local hospital Tuesday during the 1-0 group-stage victory over Iran with a pelvic injury after scoring the Americans’ lone goal. As a result of that win, they advanced as the second-place finisher in Group B with one win and two draws.
“It hurts a lot right now. … We wanted it so bad,” Pulisic said. “I hope we gave everyone some kind of excitement and showed what this country is about, what this team is about.”
On Saturday, following Pulisic’s early miss, a brilliant 20-pass connection got the Netherlands on the board in the 10th minute. Barcelona striker Memphis Depay converted a cross with a 15-yard blast past keeper Matt Turner, marking the first time the USMNT had trailed in four matches in Qatar.
“We don’t have a Memphis Depay right now,” Berhalter said.
The Dutch squad appeared fully content to cede possession and wait for counterattacks, but just when it looked as if the U.S. would make it to halftime down just a goal, they conceded a backbreaking score in the first minute of stoppage time, which was buried in a very similar fashion to the first tally. An unmarked Daley Blind found a seam in the American defense and converted another cross from 10 yards out past Turner into the left corner for a 2-0 advantage at intermission.
“When you play a team with so much quality like that and you give them three, four chances, they’re going to put three or four away,” Adams said. “We can show that we can hang with some of the best teams in the world, some of the best players in world, and that’s a lot of progress for U.S. soccer.
“We’re moving in the right direction, for sure, but we need to keep pushing, because we’re not there yet. But we’re close.”
Berhalter finally unlocked Gio Reyna to open the second half after the speedy 20-year-old didn’t even get off the bench against Iran. The coach subbed him on for Josh Sargent’s injury replacement, Jesus Ferreira.
Another sub, Haji Wright, had consecutive chances and deflected a feed from Pulisic for a goal to make it 2-1 in the 76th minute.
Berhalter’s team continued to press, but the U.S. conceded a third goal from inside the 18-yard box, from Denzel Dumfries, for a 3-1 deficit with less than 10 minutes remaining in regular time. In 37 World Cup matches in its history, the USMNT still never has won a game in which it trailed.
“I think this group is close,” Berhalter said. “We have a very young group, we have players that are beginning in their careers and they’re going to catch up to that. It’s not to make an excuse for this group, they’re still very resilient. That stuff will come.”
