{"id":9265,"date":"2026-03-29T10:54:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T10:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/9265\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T10:54:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T10:54:06","slug":"belgium-thrash-usa-5-2-mexico-vs-portugal-ends-0-0-in-football-friendlies-world-cup-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/9265\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgium thrash USA 5-2; Mexico vs Portugal ends 0-0 in football friendlies | World Cup 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published On 29 Mar 202629 Mar 2026<\/p>\n

The United States were routed 5-2 by Belgium in a humbling defeat for Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s team as they prepare to cohost the FIFA World Cup 2026, while Mexico and Portugal played\u00a0to a goalless draw.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s thrashing comes as a wake-up call just 75 days before the tournament for the USA, who, after a good run of recent results, were again found severely lacking against top European opposition.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

\u201cI see this as a good reality check for us, because now is the moment to feel this type of situation, to improve,\u201d Pochettino said after the game in Atlanta. \u201cWe need to improve, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n

The USA took an early lead against the world\u2019s ninth-ranked team, with Weston McKennie slotting in to the delight of a packed Atlanta crowd of 67,000.<\/p>\n

But the Americans, knowing that their chances of making a deep run in the World Cup will likely depend on beating elite European sides, saw any hopes of a statement victory dashed.<\/p>\n

Having conceded, the Belgians swiftly came to life, with a deluge of goals from Zeno Debast, Amadou Onana, and Charles De Ketelaere, and a brace from substitute Dodi Lukebakio.<\/p>\n

Patrick Agyemang grabbed a late consolation for the USA, who play Portugal in another high-profile friendly on Tuesday before Pochettino announces his final squad in May.<\/p>\n

\"UnitedWeston McKennie opened the scoring for the USA against Belgium [Mike Stewart\/AP Photo]Man dies at Azteca before Mexico-Portugal match<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Mexico\u2019s friendly against Portugal, marking the reopening of the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City ahead of the World Cup, ended in a 0-0 draw.<\/p>\n

The reopening became controversial as a man died after falling from \u2060a box seat area shortly before the match, \u2060security officials said.<\/p>\n

Authorities said the \u2060man was intoxicated. He \u2060attempted to jump from the second-level box seats to the first level by climbing \u200calong the exterior of the structure before falling to the ground \u200cfloor, \u200cthey said.<\/p>\n

The match doubled as a test \u2060event for the revamped stadium, drawing a festive crowd eager to sample the atmosphere in advance of the June 11 to July 19 tournament.<\/p>\n

\"ThisThis screengrab shows a forensic investigation van where a spectator died after falling from an upper level of the stadium before the match [Ivan Castaneira\/AFP]<\/p>\n

The iconic venue, which hosted the finals of the 1970 and 1986 World Cup tournaments, has been closed since May 2024 for renovations and will host five World Cup matches: three in the first round and two in the knockout stages.<\/p>\n

The Portuguese faced the match with absences, most notably those of forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Rafael Leao.<\/p>\n

Portugal\u2019s Joao Felix went close in the 14th minute before Goncalo Ramos struck the post midway through the first half.<\/p>\n

The visitors continued to look the more dangerous side after the \u2060break, with Bruno Fernandes firing just wide.<\/p>\n

Tensions briefly flared \u2060between Pedro Neto and Jesus Gallardo, while the introduction of Toluca\u2019s Portuguese striker Paulinho was met with loud cheers from the home crowd.<\/p>\n

\"Mexico'sMexico\u2019s Cesar Montes, left, and Portugal\u2019s Renato Veiga, right, argue during the match [Carl De Souza\/AFP]<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we had 10 shots on goal, which \u2060isn\u2019t far off what we were aiming for,\u201d Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat isn\u2019t good is the number \u2060of shots on target; we lacked accuracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuccess \u2060or failure isn\u2019t just about the score. There are many more factors at play these days. I think that, after 90 minutes, the team is better prepared for the World Cup,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n

Mexico, who were booed by sections of the crowd at the \u200cfinal \u200cwhistle, face Belgium in another friendly on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The tournament cohosts will play South Africa at the Azteca in the June 11 tournament opener.<\/p>\n

\"APortuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo missed the match [Carl De Souza\/AFP]Wirtz shines for Germany in Switzerland<\/p>\n

In other results,\u00a0Germany \u2060forward Florian Wirtz scored two goals, including an 86th-minute winner, and set up two more as his team twice came from a goal down to beat Switzerland 4-3 in Basel.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old Wirtz put the visitors 3-2 up just past the hour with a stunning 18-metre curled effort and bagged the winner with another spectacular strike from the edge \u2060of the box in an entertaining game.<\/p>\n

Wirtz, who missed the 2022 World Cup through injury, has been struggling for form in his first season at Liverpool, but on Friday played arguably his best game for the national team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, with four scorer points, most likely, yes,\u201d Wirtz said. \u201cWe have a tight World Cup phase in front of us, and we obviously want to \u200creach the final and win the trophy, but we all know it will be a very hard road until then.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Germany'sFlorian Wirtz celebrates scoring his team\u2019s third goal [Fabrice Coffrini\/AFP]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published On 29 Mar 202629 Mar 2026 The United States were routed 5-2 by Belgium in a humbling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,499,3121,2732,144,1857,87,1865,3206],"class_list":{"0":"post-9265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-belgium","8":"tag-belgium","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-latin-america","11":"tag-mexico","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-sport","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-us-canada","16":"tag-world-cup-2026"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116312097752777572","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}