‘Disbelief’—USMNT Captain Tim Ream Reveals Locker Room Vibes After World Cup Exit

The U.S. men’s national team was thrashed 4–1 by Belgium in the round of 16.

Tim Ream likely concluded his international career at the 2026 World Cup. | Jared C. Tilton/FIFA/Getty Images

There was a lot of noise in the lead up to the U.S. men’s national team’s World Cup round of 16 match, yet in the direct aftermath of the 4–1 thrashing by Belgium, there was only silence.

The typically thunderous crowd at Seattle’s Lumen Field fell hush. The American fans sitting in front of their televisions were rendered speechless. Even the USMNT players themselves could not find the words.

“In the [locker] room after, it’s quiet,” USMNT captain Tim Ream told ESPN. “It’s looking around. It’s disbelief. It’s trying to put together and understand what had just gone on because it was the polar opposite of the way we had played up until that point.”

The USMNT had entered the stage ablaze, topping Group D with a match to spare and winning its first knockout tie in 24 years—a dominant 2–0 victory over a physical and defensive Bosnia and Herzegovina side. American fans, new and old, had become enthralled by their team’s exciting run on home soil and anticipated similar success in the round of 16 against a mightily talented—yet increasingly inconsistent—Belgian team. Everything was in the U.S.’s favor...perhaps too much so.

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What Caused the USMNT’s Collapse?

Ream (left) knew that he had played his final World Cup match. | Al Sermeno/ISI Photos/Getty Images

During the round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, USMNT star striker Folarin Balogun was flashed a controversial red card, immediately sentencing him to a minimum one-match ban. Chatter permeated throughout the media and fans, questioning what it meant for the USMNT’s chances against Belgium.

That noise became deafening, though, when FIFA, just 24 hours before kickoff, miraculously suspended Balogun’s punishment for one year. The decision, which had never happened in the 56 years of World Cup red cards, enabled Balogun to compete in the round of 16 after all. It was soon revealed that U.S. President Donald Trump had gotten involved, calling his close friend, FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

Despite having its star player now available, the unprecedented change rattled the USMNT, perhaps more than it realized at the time, and put tremendous pressure on Balogun himself. It inadvertently gave Belgium the upper hand, as it now had a chip on its shoulder and something big to overcome.

It was apparent from the opening whistle that the USMNT was a shell of itself, and it took Belgium all of nine minutes to crack it. No U.S. player seemed prepared for the match, especially not its talisman, Christian Pulisic, who came off injured before the hour mark after mistakenly kicking an opponent’s leg instead of the ball itself.

“It was more surprise,” Ream said. “You mention Christian [Pulisic], but I don’t think anybody had their best game by any stretch.”

Moments before Pulisic’s exit, U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese fumbled a clearance, gifting Belgium its third of the night.

Ream couldn’t rectify Matt Freese’s costly error. | Kohjiro Kinno/Sports Illustrated

“It just seemed that everything that could go wrong was going to go wrong that night, which is a shame because we put in so much work to get to that point,” Ream added.

That timid performance was a far cry from the aggressive and confident team that the USMNT had established itself to be this summer.

“The energy, the excitement, the pace that we played with, the aggression with and without the ball, it was just the polar opposite of how it all ended,” Ream said. “That was more the feeling in the [locker] room. The shock. Trying to understand where and why we had the game that we did.”

Despite the sour note it ended on, the USMNT still considers its tournament run this summer a huge success, given the sheer fan engagement and history made. Even if 38-year-old Ream will no longer be a part of it, the team has high hopes for its future.

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