Mauricio Pochettino, USMNT Criticized by Fans in Blowout Loss to Belgium in 2026 Friendly

The United States Men's National Team fell 5-2 to Belgium in an international soccer friendly at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Saturday.

After each team scored in the first half, midfielder Amadou Onana scored the go-ahead goal for Belgium in the 53rd minute, and it was all Belgium from there:

The match got out of hand after Belgium took the lead, as forward Charles De Ketelaere extended the Belgian lead to 3-1 with a successful penalty kick in the 59th minute following a handball call on U.S. center-back Tim Ream, and midfielder Dodi Lukebakio added fourth and fifth goals in the 68th and 82nd minutes, respectively:

Forward Patrick Agyemang made the score look slightly better from the USMNT's perspective, scoring the final goal of the match in the 87th minute:

Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie got the Americans on the board first in the opening half with a goal off a corner kick in the 39th minute, but center-back Zeno Debast equalized for Belgium on a long-range shot in the 45th minute, which started a deluge of Belgian goal scoring:

While Mauricio Pochettino has largely had Team USA playing quality soccer since his hiring in September 2024, he was the subject of a great deal of criticism on social media based on his lineup and substitution decisions against Belgium:

Saturday's match marked one of the final opportunities for Pochettino to evaluate his squad before the 2026 FIFA World Cup roster is announced in May.

Many of Team USA's top players and expected key members of the World Cup team were in the lineup Saturday, including McKennie, winger Christian Pulisic, right-back Timothy Weah, left-back Antonee Robinson and goalkeeper Matt Turner.

Both the United States and Belgium entered play in the midst of impressive unbeaten streaks.

The USMNT had four wins and one draw in their previous five matches, while Belgium had six wins and three draws since their last loss to Ukraine just over one year ago.

The friendly was the seventh all-time meeting between the United States and Belgium, and the first since Belgium defeated the U.S. 2-1 in the round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup.

Entering Saturday's match, USMNT had one win and five losses against Belgium with their last win coming during the group stage of the 1930 World Cup.

Team USA will be back in action on Tuesday when they take on Portugal in another friendly at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

That will be the United States' final friendly before the World Cup squad is announced in May. Pochettino will then lead the Americans into friendlies against Senegal on May 31 and Germany on June 6 before their first World Cup match against Paraguay on June 12.