USMNT player ratings vs Belgium: Christian Pulisic, Sergino Dest and Matt Freese among strugglers as World Cup ends in familiar Round of 16 pain

After building so much goodwill through the summer, the U.S. saw it all fall apart with their worst performance of this World Cup.

SEATTLE -- In the end, the U.S. Men's National Team's World Cup run didn't come crashing down in one instant, but in several. It ended Monday in Seattle, falling apart at the seams slowly but surely in a way that seemed so unlikely given everything we'd seen before.

That's because this game, a 4-1 Round of 16 loss to Belgium, was unlike any of the previous four. In those games, the USMNT was ruthless; in this one, they were overwhelmed. In those games, the USMNT was full of energy; in this one, they looked collectively flat. And, most importantly, in those games, the USMNT played mistake-free soccer. In this one, there was no shortage of mistakes to go around.

The first one came early. After an attempted Alex Freeman clearance, several USMNT defenders watched as the ball bounced inside their own box. Nicolas Raskin floated in, took the gift, and centered a pass to Charles De Ketelaere for a simple tap-in just nine minutes in. It was far too easy. For Belgium, it would only get easier.

Just seconds after the USMNT equalized from a Malik Tillman free kick in the 31st minute, De Ketelaere went right back down on the other side, jumping over Tim Ream to smash home a towering header to restore Belgium's advantage. Even after the USMNT added new life after halftime, Belgium never looked back, getting their third on a Matt Freese howler that left Hans Vanaken with an open goal. Romelu Lukaku's stoppage-time knife-twist was little more than that, then, as he made it 4-1.

Everything seemed to go wrong for the USMNT. The performance was flat, despite the best efforts of the Seattle crowd. Christian Pulisic tried his best - at times too hard - but was nowhere near his best before an injury ended his day early. Sergino Dest played his worst game of the tournament, and a defense and goalkeeper Matt Freese, earmarked as weak points for so long, finally gave the critics ammunition. The substitutes brought little, although, in truth, several of them came on only after mistakes had already ensured the game was gone.

For the U.S., this was the nightmare scenario. After weeks of winning hearts and 24 hours as the World Cup's biggest villain, everything, to put it simply, fell apart. In the hours and days to come, there will be explanations and discussions about why. On this day, though, all that mattered was the result. It wasn't good enough and, as a result, it could be argued that this World Cup wasn't, either. Despite all this group showed in the group stage and Round of 32, they once again came undone in the Round of 16 in familiar fashion: a top European opponent, a cruel goal and an otherwise large gulf in class.

Harsh? Yes, but Monday was another reminder that World Cups are harsh, unforgiving and, in the case of this game, undone in both an instant and slowly with too many moments of pain along the way.

GOAL rates the USMNT's players from Seattle...

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Goalkeeper & Defense
Matt Freese (4/10):
Was the USMNT's best player in the first half, but then made the deathblow of a mistake in the second. That mistake effectively put the game to bed.
Antonee Robinson (5/10):
Never got going. Was fine defensively but offered far too little in the attack.
Tim Ream (4/10):
Caught ball-watching on the first goal then got dunked on for the second. A rough farewell for a player that, to this point, had done so well.
Chris Richards (4/10):
Was the better of the two central defenders before giving the ball away on the last goal. It didn't matter, but it also did.
Alex Freeman (6/10):
Could have perhaps headed away on the first goal and didn't quite close on the second. Did well with Belgium's press, though, which was quite clearly triggered by him getting on the ball.

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Midfield
Tyler Adams (6/10):
Looked absolutely infuriated as everything crumbled around him. Did his best, but he couldn't cover for the chaos everywhere else.
Weston McKennie (6/10):
Like just about everyone else, this was his worst game of the tournament, too. Didn't give Belgium many problems on either side of the ball.
Malik Tillman (6/10):
Got the goal but, realistically, did little else. Didn't see nearly as much of the ball as the U.S. would have wanted.
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Attack
Christian Pulisic (4/10):
A game where seemingly everything went wrong. Seemed like his instincts failed him in the first half before his body did in the second, forcing an early substitution.
Sergino Dest (3/10):
Miles off the pace. Didn't clear on the first goal, got beat for the cross on the second, and offered nothing in the attack. A bad game from him, and he was rightfully subbed at halftime.
Folarin Balogun (5/10):
After all the debate about his inclusion, it didn't amount to much. Had one half-chance in the first half, but it went flying over the bar.

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Subs & Manager
Gio Reyna (6/10):
A much-needed change at halftime. Offered some composure on the ball, which did help, but not nearly enough.
Sebastian Berhalter (6/10):
Nearly scored on an absolute missile from outside the box. Easy to wonder if things could have been different if that shot was a little bit further to the right.
Ricardo Pepi (5/10):
A hopeful switch, but not a wildly effective one.
Haji Wright (N/A):
Not given enough time to do anything.
Max Arfsten (N/A):
His first World Cup minutes. Didn't come how he would have wanted them to.
Mauricio Pochettino (4/10):
The goals, ultimately, came down to individual mistakes, but the USMNT was also second best in just about every facet of the game. Was the moment too much for them? It's easy to see why it could have been, but Pochettino, of course, was the man tasked with preparing them for this moment.

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Goalkeeper & Defense

Midfield

Attack

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Subs & Manager