Megan Rapinoe believes that USMNT could have handled the off-field drama better before their match against Belgium.A crushing 4-1 defeat to Belgium ended their tournament in the Round of 16, but it wasn’t the biggest storyline surrounding the game.Christian Pulisic was in tears as USMNT were defeated by BelgiumGettyRapinoe said that USMNT were not mentally prepared for President Trump’s intervention in Folarin Balogun’s red card suspension being axed.“I think the distraction got to the team for sure in some type of way,” Rapinoe said on her podcast: ‘A Touch More: The Beautiful Game’.“Whether it was, you know, this red-card situation, whether it was being in a public discourse with this president, all of the shenanigans and chaos that comes with that, the feelings on both sides of that. “Whether you agree with it or not, it’s just a lot to contend with.”Rapinoe was a part of the U.S. women’s team who won the 2019 World Cup.In the eighth edition of the tournament, the United States successfully defended their title, beating Netherlands 2-0 in the final.They faced similar off-field drama en-route to their fourth World Cup win since it’s inception in 1991.That tournament began after the team filed its equal-pay lawsuit, and Rapinoe added that the players were “a little bit more prepared” for the attention when Trump began criticising them.“So, not only does this [men’s] team not have like a core of older players who are used to that, but none of these players talk about anything, ever, like, for the most part,” Rapinoe added.“I think in men’s football, just like in general, there’s not a lot of players who are choosing to use their platform or to, you know, broaden their scope of pressure and responsibility.Rapinoe believes that USMNT were not prepared for Trump’s intervention, and the following dramaGettyRapinoe faced similar off-field drama during the 2019 Women’s World CupAFP“I feel like this is the first time that most, if not all, of these players are having to even think about something off of the field that is controversial.“It’s impossible to say how much all the discourse with the president, all that, it’s immeasurable. You don’t know. We’ll never know what it would have been like for this team if that hadn’t happened.”Mauricio Pochettino’s squad faced questions ahead of the tournament, particularly around the roster selection.They set the tone early with a record-breaking 4-1 win over Paraguay, but ultimately, they were defeated by a very good Belgium team.Their 2026 World Cup run inspired a nation and has bought new fans to the sport.“I’m just bummed for them and bummed for us because it was a really fun run and it’s always fun to have the host country in and obviously as an American I want our boys to stay in as long as possible,” Rapinoe continued.USMNT’s run has brought in a new generation of soccer fansGetty“But I think in general they didn’t handle the pressure of the quarterfinal well.“I don’t think they handled just all of the circus that was around their team very well.”Stay up to date with USMNT across all our talkSPORT platforms – subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest news, opinion, exclusive interviews and our daily unfiltered, unscripted show ‘The S* Word, from 8am ET