Two US Officials Were Suspended for Loss Against Belgium

The United States saw its World Cup hopes come to a crashing end in an embarrassing 4-1 loss against Belgium.

Team USA entered as the favorites, but conceded an early goal and looked to be playing on its back foot all day, struggling to muster offense against a Belgium side that looked nothing like the No. 9 ranked team in the world heading through group stage and a 3-2 Round of 32 victory over Senegal.

But the loss wasn’t the only stain on the United States men’s national team this week.

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FIFA decided to suspend team manager Sam Zapatka and U.S. Soccer Federation vice president of security Frank Pannell for the contest.

ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle reported that the offense related to the Round of 32 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina and involved the mishandling of FIFA match protocols and people being in designated areas where they weren’t allowed.

No physical altercation took place, according to the report did not give a reason other than to say it was not related to the successful effort to have forward Folarin Balogun’s one-game red card suspension lifted.

Zapatka has been the team’s administrative manager since 2020 and has worked for the U.S. Soccer Federation since 2015.

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This story was originally published July 8, 2026 at 10:36 AM.