The Anti-Midas Touch: The US buckle in Seattle, Cristiano bows out and Paul Howard’s party trick

The Anti-Midas Touch: The US buckle in Seattle, Cristiano bows out, Keith Duggan in Miami and Paul Howard’s Party Trick

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Dejected fans of the United States team react to Belgium’s victory in their World Cup match in Seattle on Monday, July 6, 2026. Photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times
Dejected fans of the United States team react to Belgium’s victory in their World Cup match in Seattle on Monday, July 6, 2026. Photo: Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

The American Dream is over. The United States, perhaps laden down with the sheer weight of the swirling situation, limped to a 4-1 defeat in Seattle. A result which ends their campaign and potentially the administration’s interest along with it.

For all the strings pulled to drag Folarin Balogun back on to the pitch, their exit was a quiet, deflating end to the loudest week of the World Cup so far.

On this episode of The Irish Times World Cup podcast, Paul Howard and Malachy Clerkin review the events of last night and the rolling catastrophe still engulfing Fifa.

Meanwhile, Keith Duggan was in Dallas to see Spain pip Portugal last night. That defeat draws the curtain on Cristiano Ronaldo’s (not-so) storied World Cup career, forever missing the one prize that eluded him to the very last.

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Produced by Rob Sutton.

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