Everything Mauricio Pochettino Said After USMNT's World Cup Elimination vs. Belgium

The United States' World Cup run is over after losing to Belgium in the Round of 16.

After the match, manager Mauricio Pochettino said the USMNT didn't "connect with the game."

"From the beginning, we didn't connect with the game," he said. "Even when we scored, and we scored the goal, 1-1, we conceded the next action. It was really tough from the beginning... It wasn't our day. Not to find excuses, not to find arguments, because we didn't show what that team normally can show, and that is a reality."

Pochettino added that the USMNT will now begin the process of diagnosing what went wrong and figuring out how it can have a different result the next time it hits the international stage.

"I think we need to learn. It's a process to learn," he said. "We need to assess the game and we need to see why we didn't approach the game in the same way as the rest of the World Cup. Different reasons. Maybe the explanation is so easy; it wasn't our day as a collective and as individuals."

It certainly wasn't the United States' day in the 4-1 loss. While the USMNT led the possession battle slightly, Belgium had five more shots on goal and had 2.15 expected goals to the U.S.'s 0.67, per ESPN.

The United States was firmly in the game through the first half, trailing by just a goal at the break, but it quickly lost all momentum in the second half when Belgium's Hans Vanaken capitalized on a blunder from keeper Matt Freese.

To make matters worse, Christian Pulisic had to sub off with an injury just minutes after Belgium took a 3-1 lead.

From that point forward, the Americans were spinning their wheels, and they never managed to get back into it. Now, the USMNT's run has come to an end.

While reaching the quarterfinal would have been overachieving even for a talented U.S. squad, it's hard for fans not to be disappointed with Monday's result. The only thing Pochettino can do now is try to begin working towards a better showing in 2030.