About this episode

Chad and John analyze the USMNT's loss in the World Cup and discuss various related topics including racism in sports and the future of American soccer.

On this episode, Chad and John analyze the USMNT's disappointing loss to Belgium in the Round of 16 of the World Cup. What went wrong? What can we do to fix it? Also, Kylian Mbappe is subjected to a shocking racist attack, Cape Verde win the hearts of the world, and we say a not-so-tearful goodbye to Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar. 00:00 Introduction to the World Cup 03:57 Team USA Go Out of the Tournament 08:41 Grading the USMNT Players 14:13 Ranking the 3 Host Nations 19:41 Belgium's Extra Motivation Against the USA 23:35 Florian Balogun's Red Card Controversy 30:10 Donald Trump's FIFA Intervention 38:13 Video Review Is Ruining the World Cup 53:13 A Shocking Racist Incident 57:50 Cape Verde's Remarkable Performance Against Argentina 59:14 Saying Goodbye to Ronaldo and Neymar 01:02:06 Players of the Tournament and Quarterfinal Preview 01:08:31 What Will It Take for America to Be Great at Soccer? 01:21:28 Looking Ahead to 2030 World Cup

People in this episode

Hosts: Chad, John

Topics covered

• USMNT performance
• World Cup analysis
• racism in sports
• soccer future in America
• player performances
• international soccer events

Keywords

• USMNT
• World Cup
• Kylian Mbappe
• Cristiano Ronaldo
• Neymar
• Belgium
• Cape Verde
• soccer
• racism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: USMNT, FIFA

Places: Belgium, Cape Verde

More episodes of Crunching Tackles

• Final World Cup Final Thoughts · July 17, 2026 · 32 min
• Episode 196: World Cup Final Preview · July 13, 2026 · 1h 11m
• Episode 194: America Has World Cup Fever! · July 1, 2026 · 1h 26m
• Episode 193: World Cup Week 1 Recap · June 18, 2026 · 1h 21m

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