The United States men’s national team were eliminated by the Netherlands in the round of 16 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Saturday. First-half goals by Memphis Depay and Daley Blind did Gregg Berhalter’s squad in as the Americans leave Qatar with a 3-1 defeat to the Dutch following a respectable group-stage campaign. The Netherlands will face the winner of Argentina and Australia in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Get your daily World Cup fix. Sign up for our new newsletter covering the beautiful game in all its glory, including daily updates about the World Cup, here.
This was a game that showed how much the USMNT still need to grow as they were exposed to Dutch counters. This was a U.S. team that did not concede a goal on open play during the group stage heading into Saturday. Denzel Dumfries dominated the wing with two assists and a goal to his name.
The Americans were without Josh Sargent, who did not dress due to an ankle injury, and they missed his presence with the lack movement and space in attack. From being too quick in their passing plays to not tracking back on Dutch counters, the United States were lulled into playing the game that Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal prepared for.
On the Dutch opening goal, Coady Gakpo made space for Depay to blow past the United States midfield to finish the chance created by Dumfries. Again before the half, a fullback Sergino Dest was caught flat-footed for Blind to finish in a fullback to fullback goal that drove home the Dutch style of play. Changes came at halftime with Gio Reyna entering for Jesus Ferreira but that wasn’t enough to get back into the game. Haji Wright pulled one back from a Netherlands collapse before Dumfries capped his excellent game with an 81st minute goal to put things out of sight.
CBS Sports will continue to update this breaking news story as necessary.