Dave Portnoy lashes out against ‘pathetic’ USMNT after dominant Belgium victory

Dave Portnoy lashes out against ‘pathetic’ USMNT after dominant Belgium victory

Dave Portnoy railed against the “pathetic” USMNT in a curse-filled social media rant for the “embarrassing effort” in their blowout loss to Belgium Monday night.

“Embarrassing effort from the United States. Lights were way too bright for US soccer team. Stage way too big,” Portnoy wrote on X after Belgium’s dominant 4-1 victory in Seattle.

The Barstool Sports founder recorded himself ripping off his USA soccer hat and jersey as he lashed out against several players, moments after the final whistle.

Dave Portnoy reacts to USMNT’s loss to Belgium in the Round of 16 of the World Cup on July 6, 2026. @stoolpresidente/Instagram

“We’re a f–king joke. That game was a f–king joke. If you’re gonna have us root for our team, how about having a goalie who f–king doesn’t give up a goal, just kicking the ground and giving it to the other team,” Portnoy said about goalkeeper Matt Freese.

The American starter attempted to clear a ball outside the box but missed, handing it to Belgium, who put it in the back of the net to go up 3-1 12 minutes into the second half.

“If we’re gonna create international incidents, we gotta stop having goalies who don’t know what they’re doing and a defense getting thrown around like f–king Christmas trees.

The heated Portnoy called for a draft for soccer to get better players if America was gonna keep getting into “international incidents,” after US officials got involved with the World Cup officiating to have Folarin Balogun’s one-game ban overturned.

“Listen if we are gonna keep making an international incident in FIFA and Trump’s gonna bully them and s–t and everyone’s gonna be like the angry Americans, then we’re gonna have to start instituting a draft in soccer,” Portnoy said. “Hey LeBron, no offense, you’re going to play f–king soccer and all these other great athletes that we got, you got to go play soccer.”

Portnoy called for better players to make up the American squad, which has four years to train before the next World Cup.

“These are country club D-tier athletes we got out here,” he said. “Again, I’m fine if we’re gonna sit on the sidelines and just be like ‘soccer, cool, cool.’”

The Barstool Sports founder recorded himself ripping off his USA soccer hat and jersey as he lashed out against several players, moments after the final whistle. @stoolpresidente/Instagram
US’ Folarin Balogun walks off the field after losing to Belgium in Seattle on July 6, 2026. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
United States fans react during a World Cup watch party in Washington, DC. REUTERS

The hot-tempered entrepreneur showed some sportsmanship to congratulate Belgium for making it to the quarterfinal match against Spain on Friday.

“As a proud American let me be the first to congratulate Belgium. You guys were the far superior team,” he wrote. “Granted I can’t tell if you guys are any good cause we are so pathetic but you beat us fair and square. Now in hindsight doesn’t all the bellyaching about Balogun playing seem silly?”

USA fans were quick to rip the team following the embarrassing loss.

“Soccer lost more than the US did with this loss. This World Cup was supposed to turn American fans on to soccer with a much hyped Team USA. Now anytime a casual American fan sees a soccer game they will just be reminded of that keystone cops goal Freese gave up. They will just turn it off. That game was a disaster for both the US and for soccer,” one person wrote.

“That was an embarrassing display! Pulisic is a fraud and the defense is an absolute joke!” another used added.

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