United States goalkeeper Matt Freese ’22 had a picture-perfect start — expertly handling his first real test of the 2026 FIFA World Cup — in the opening minute of the Round of 16 match against Belgium.
A deep throw-in into the penalty box bounced out to Red Devils fullback Timothy Castagne, who whipped a shot toward the top of the net. Freese, though, soared with an outstretched arm to push the ball away with his fingertips for a corner kick.
For the Harvard alum, the second half brought the complete opposite.
Twelve minutes after the break, Belgium deftly played a ball downfield, and Freese stepped upfield and out of his box to collect possession. But after he chested the ball down to the pitch, his foot hit the grass and slid — missing the ball entirely.
The split-second lapse was enough for the Red Devils to capitalize.
Forward Charles De Ketelaere poked it back to midfielder Hans Vanaken, who tapped the ball past Freese and the last USMNT defender, captain Tim Ream, for the visitors’ third goal.
The costly mistake effectively sealed the United States’ fate, as the hosts struggled to recover their offensive rhythm. Belgium added a fourth and final goal late, handing the Americans a 4-1 defeat in Seattle, Wash., on Monday evening.
Despite the rough exit, Freese concluded the tournament as the winningest World Cup goalkeeper in USMNT history with three wins and tied the nation’s record with two World Cup clean sheets — joining fellow USMNT teammate Matt Turner in 2022 and Jimmy Douglas in 1930. He finished his World Cup debut with nine saves across four appearances.
The United States exited the World Cup alongside its fellow co-hosts in the Round of 16: Canada fell 3-0 to Morocco on Saturday, and Mexico lost 3-2 to England last night. Despite securing its first knockout win since 2002 last week, America has not advanced past the Round of 16 since its quarterfinals appearance in the same tournament.
Though the USMNT has historically struggled against top European opponents in the knockout stages, the team had given its fans hope that those days were behind it due to its strong play through the group stage and the Round of 32. For instance, the team had scored seven goals while only conceding one in the first half, the most of any team in the tournament so far.
“It wasn’t our day,” head coach Mauricio Pochettino said in an interview with FOX after the game. “It’s not to find excuses, arguments, because we didn’t show what we normally — what our team — showed. That is our reality.”
On Monday, it was the Red Devils who struck first, marking the first time the United States conceded the opening goal in this World Cup.
The goal foreshadowed the hesitancy that characterized the United States’ play throughout the match. Poor first touches, sloppy passes, and timid efforts for 50-50 balls became the themes of the day for a USMNT squad that had played with confidence and aggression in its earlier matches.
Eight minutes in, Belgian midfielder Leandro Trossard tried to cross the ball from the left into the box, only for American defender Alex Freeman to head it away. But the United States players surrounding the ball hesitated and ball-watched — leaving space for the Red Devils to slip through and find De Ketelaere for the game’s first goal.
Belgium’s goal appeared to rattle the hosts, who continued to struggle in the offensive third and remained outnumbered in central midfield. The United States did not register its first shot until its first goal, while Belgium had already taken six.
A wide run from wingback Antonee Robinson slotted the ball to America’s leading goal scorer, Folarin Balogun, whose one-game ban was controversially suspended after President Donald Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to request a review of the infraction in the Round of 32 match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Balogun was fouled, setting up a free kick opportunity for midfielder Malik Tillman, who scored the winning goal off a free kick against Bosnia in the previous round. Tillman whipped the ball, and, with the help of a deflection from a Belgian defender, slotted it down the middle to tie the game.
Belgium responded with vigor. Less than two minutes after the United States scored, Trossard crossed to De Ketelaere, who leaped over Ream to fire a header past Freese and into the net.
Freese was able to secure another save six minutes later, preventing a flick off a Red Devils corner kick from landing between the sticks.
Offensively, the United States found Balogun, who created a few chances towards the end of the half, though the Belgian backline swiftly diffused any threats with the help of Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois, who has the second-most World Cup appearances for a keeper.
Shifting his lineup at halftime, Pochettino substituted midfielder Giovanni Reyna for wingback Sergiño Dest to strengthen the team’s presence in central midfield. The strategy initially proved helpful, allowing the United States to rebalance possession at roughly 47 percent per team.
Unfortunately for the home team, the coach’s efforts appeared to be futile. Freese’s costly mistake and Ream’s missed final clearance provided the dagger to the Red Devils, who racked up a 3-1 lead early in the second half.
Pochettino subbed on forward Ricardo Pepi – who was predicted to be Balogun’s replacement for this match — to revisit the two-striker formation that proved useful in securing the United States’ previous group stage win against Australia in the absence of forward Christian Pulisic.
Pulisic exited tonight’s game shortly after Belgium’s third goal due to signs of an injury. Expected to be the United States’ star entering the tournament, Pulisic’s substitution marked the end of a lackluster World Cup for Captain America, who battled injuries throughout the competition and only recorded one assist. The AC Milan winger struggled particularly in this match, losing possession 11 times in just the first 45 minutes.
With 10 minutes remaining, Tillman knocked the ball off a Belgian player, allowing Reyna to play a through ball to Balogun down the left side. The striker faced a one-on-one situation with Courtois. To the dismay of the hopeful Seattle crowd, though, the tight angle limited the Americans’ options and led to the Belgian goalie’s first save of the game.
The Red Devils sealed the match in the final minutes of stoppage time, when a turnover deep in United States territory allowed forward Romelu Lukaku to pickpocket the American backline and curl the ball into the corner for a 4-1 victory.
Belgium heads down the West Coast to Los Angeles, Calif., to face Spain in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon. Boston, meanwhile, will close its World Cup hosting duties with a quarterfinal match between France and Morocco on Thursday afternoon.
“I think we need to learn. It’s a process to learn,” Pochettino said. “We need to assess the game and see why we didn’t approach the game in the same way as the rest of the World Cup. Maybe the explanation is easy: it wasn’t our day.”
Despite a shaky final game as the United States’ starting keeper, Freese’s next chance to make history for Harvard and the nation on the beautiful game’s largest stage could come at the 2030 World Cup, co-hosted by Morocco, Portugal, and Spain.
—Staff writer Uy B. Pham can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at ubp.88. Follow him on X @uybpham.
—Staff writer Jason Deng can be reached at [email protected].
—Staff writer Nghia L. Nguyen can be reached at [email protected].