If this was a “warm-up” for the 2026 World Cup, the United States just got third-degree burns. In front of a stunned, mostly pro-American crowd of over 66,000 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, Belgium didn’t just beat the USMNT—they dismantled them. The 5-2 final score wasn’t a fluke; it was a cold, hard reminder that Mauricio Pochettino’s “new era” still has some serious plumbing issues in the backline.
The US actually had the cheek to take the lead, but all that did was poke a sleeping giant. Once Belgium woke up, they turned the pitch into a shooting gallery.
From Hope to Horror
The first 40 minutes felt like the start of something special. Weston McKennie, finally finding his scoring boots again, nodded home from a corner in the 39th minute to send Atlanta into a frenzy. For six glorious minutes, it looked like the US could actually hang with Europe’s elite.
Then, the wheels fell off. Right on the stroke of halftime, Zeno Debast unleashed a rasping long-range effort that Matt Turner—making his first appearance in nearly a year—could only watch fly past him. 1-1 at the break, and the momentum had shifted for good.
The Second-Half Slaughter
Whatever Pochettino said in the locker room didn’t work. Eight minutes after the restart, Amadou Onana bullied his way through to make it 2-1. Six minutes later, it was three. Tim Ream, showing his age in a footrace he was never going to win, handled the ball in the box. Charles De Ketelaere stepped up and buried the penalty with the kind of nonchalance that makes defenders want to retire on the spot.
But the real star of the show was substitute Dodi Lukébakio. Coming off the bench in the 62nd minute, the Benfica winger decided to have a personal “Goal of the Season” contest. He bagged two identical, curling beauties from the edge of the box in the 68th and 82nd minutes, leaving the American defense looking like traffic cones.
A Historic Humiliation
Patrick Agyemang managed a late consolation goal in the 87th minute after a rare Belgian defensive slip, but nobody was celebrating. This was the USMNT’s heaviest defeat on home soil since 1959.
Belgium, meanwhile, extended their unbeaten streak to ten games. They look lean, mean, and terrifyingly efficient. While the US heads to Charlotte to face a defiant Senegal team on Tuesday, Belgium moves on to Chicago to face Mexico. On this evidence, the Red Devils aren’t just coming to the World Cup to participate—they’re coming to take over.
