Mauricio Pochettino breaks silence on Balogun controversy after USA defeat

[[{“value”:”

United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino dismissed suggestions that the controversy surrounding Folarin Balogun affected his side’s performance, saying Belgium deserved their victory after eliminating the hosts from the FIFA World Cup 2026.

Speaking at his post-match press conference following the USA’s 4-1 defeat in the Round of 16, Pochettino said his team did not need to look for excuses and acknowledged that Belgium outplayed them on the day.

“It’s difficult to make a comment. We were not good enough today, we don’t need to find another excuse. It wasn’t a situation that affected us in the group. All the team can have one day you don’t perform. Today was this type of day. Belgium were better than us. That’s it. It’s very clear,” Pochettino said.

FIFA had earlier dismissed Belgium’s challenge over the eligibility of Folarin Balogun after world football’s governing body suspended the United States forward’s one-match ban ahead of the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 clash between the two sides. Balogun was shown a red card in the 64th minute of the United States’ 2-0 Round of 32 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

De Ketelaere shines as Belgium beat hosts USA in Seattle

After the highly anticipated match, Belgium stormed into the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 with a commanding 4-1 victory over the United States at Seattle Stadium.

Charles De Ketelaere starred with a brace to earn the Player of the Match award, while Hans Vanaken scored his first-ever FIFA World Cup goal and substitute Romelu Lukaku added a stoppage-time strike, marking his third consecutive World Cup match with a goal.

Belgium dominated much of the game despite the USA briefly equalising through Malik Tillman’s deflected free-kick. A costly goalkeeping error by Matt Freese allowed Belgium to extend their lead before Lukaku sealed the emphatic win late in the game.

The defeat ended the United States’ campaign, making them the last of the three co-host nations to exit the tournament after Canada and Mexico. Belgium will next face Spain in the quarter-finals on July 10 after the Spanish side knocked out Portugal in the Round of 16.

(With ANI inputs)

“}]]