Mauricio Pochettino disappointed as the United States suffer World Cup heartbreak

Charles De Ketelaere opened the scoring at the Seattle Stadium after just nine minutes.

Malik Tillman levelled with 31 minutes on the clock but Ketelaere restored Belgium's lead two minutes later.

Hans Vanaken's 57th minute effort out the game beyond doubt for Rudi Garcia's charges, but there was still time for one more goal as Romelu Lukaku came off the bench to net in the third minute of stoppage time.

The noise leading up to the game centred around the backlash over Folarin Balogun's rescinded one-match ban to allow him to play against Belgium.

Reflecting on the encounter, where his side were second best for much of the tie, the former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris-Saint Germain boss said the decision had no direct effect on their performance.

"I am so frustrated and so disappointed with the people who are supposed to understand this situation," said Pochettino.

"I think it didn't affect our performance, it's not an excuse, and we cannot put excuses, it wasn't our day.

"But in a personal way, (what) is the point? To insult or to receive a lot of bad message or threats, if my position is 'I am the head coach, it's a rule, that the player can be available'?"

"My position was to train the team, and if you have available Balogun, because the disciplinary (committee) of FIFA allowed to for you to have the player, it's not a problem," added the head coach.

"In a personal way I feel so disappointed with too many people."

"It was a very bad day. It wasn't our day, in a collective and individual way.

“And we need to accept that sometimes this type of thing happens, but in a tournament like a World Cup, when that happens, you have not another chance," concluded Pochettino.