1 of 5 | Forward/midfielder Christian Pulisic failed to score for the United States at the 2026 World Cup. File Photo by Christian Brunskill/UPI | License Photo
July 7 (UPI) -- United States players were perplexed by their poor play in a loss to Belgium, but believe they maintain potential to advance deeper in future World Cups.
"We need to get over that next hurdle, trying to compete and beat the world's best," forward Christian Pulisic said on the Fox broadcast after Monday's 4-1 setback in Seattle.
"That's the next step for us. It wasn't quite there [Monday], but I think we showed a lot of good things -- that we have potential to do it. But there is still another step that we have to take."
With Monday's trashing in the Round of 16, the Americans extended their winless streak against Top 10 teams to 17 consecutive games. Their last triumph against such a foe came through a 2-1 friendly win over Germany in 2015. They haven't beaten Belgium in nearly 100 years, with that victory coming at first World Cup in 1930.
