From The Athletic:

The president didn’t rescue Balogun. He didn’t give the U.S. greater odds to win. He didn’t fix the tournament by correcting a mistake. He repossessed the World Cup. He made Balogun, whose class and character represented the entire squad, the face of a fix. He helped create the snooty American attitude that gave Belgium a motivational boost.

“In recent days, we have been shown a lack of respect here in the U.S.,” Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said afterward. “It was said that they could beat us easily, but I think today we proved that we are a good team. We played a great match.”

The match unfolded in a series of cruelties. Charles De Ketelaere scored in the ninth minute, off a ball the U.S. should have cleared. Malik Tillman’s deflected free kick briefly evened the score, but 61 seconds after the restart, De Ketelaere ripped the wound again. U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese gifted the third goal with a stupefying mistake, and several Red Devils gathered in a circle, clenched their fists and jerked their arms back and forth, appearing to troll Tump with his signature dance move. In stoppage time, Romelu Lukaku scored and blew kisses to the Belgium section in the crowd of 66,925.

“I think today we didn’t show our real quality,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “We were never connected with the manner of the game.”