The United States Men’s Soccer team was unable to pull off a rally in extra time against Belgium during its Round of 16 World Cup loss, 2-1.
U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard led the charge to hold off Belgium’s offense, as both teams ended the regulation period in a scoreless tie.
Howard made 16 saves against Belgium, which is the most in a World Cup match since 1966.
In extra time, Belgium scored the first two goals (Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku) to take a 2-0 lead against the U.S.
Two minutes into the second extra time period, Julian Green scored the lone U.S. goal to prevent the shutout.
Green (19 years, 25 days) became the youngest player to score at the World Cup since Argentina’s Lionel Messi in 2006.
Belgium had 27 shots on goal while the USA had a total of nine.
The loss eliminates the American team from World Cup play after finishing second in the “Group of Death.”
The last time the U.S. won a Round of 16 match was during the 2002 World Cup, which was the farthest the national team had advanced since the semifinals in 1930. The team finished third in 1930 when the World Cup was a 13 team tournament.
Belgium will move on to play Argentina in the next round.
It is the second time Belgium has advanced to the quarterfinals. The last time was in 1986.
Sports Minded 