The United States crashed out of a World Cup on home soil with a humbling 4-1 defeat to Belgium, and Iran wasted no time in celebrating their exit.A saga surrounding star striker Folarin Balogun and his suspended one-game ban, which put political interference in sport at the heart of the conversation, dominated the build-up to what was supposed to be the biggest USMNT game since 2002.The US crashed out of the World Cup and were well beaten by BelgiumGettyBut with a place in the quarterfinals on the line, Mauricio Pochettino’s team crumbled in Seattle, and will be spectators to the rest of the World Cup.Even Balogun, who took his place in the starting 11 after extraordinary intervention from Donald Trump, couldn’t save the US.Belgium were quick to mock the whole saga — and the president himself — with on-field celebrations and social media posts on a humbling evening.Iran issues brutal response after USA bow out of home World CupIran, the team that claimed to face ‘mistreatment’ from the US government during their own campaign, also reveled in the American heartbreak.“Now the whole world is dancing to celebrate politics’ humiliating defeat by football,” a spokesperson for the Iranian Football Federation said, following the result.The message referenced comments made by US Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, after their own exit from the competition.Iran crashed out at the group stage, having drawn all three of their games against Egypt, Belgium and New Zealand.Once they were sent packing, Mullin said he ‘danced a happy dance’ when he heard the news.“I’m just glad they’re done, and they’re not coming back,” he told reporters during a briefing last week.“I was so happy when we were able to pull their visas and said they could leave the US soil, and I might’ve sung a song or two or maybe even danced a happy dance.The USMNT crumbled in their biggest game since 2002, to the delight of IranGettyIran claimed mistreatment from the US during their own World Cup runGetty“I’m very happy they’re going back because there wasn’t a single team that we dealt with more than them.”Mullin’s comments caused a storm, and Iran were quick to turn the tables after the US became the third and final co-host eliminated from their own World Cup.Donald Trump favor backfires as USMNT humbled by BelgiumTrump’s personal call to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and his plea to bring a ‘wronged’ Balogun back into the fold a day before the crunch fixture, perhaps could have given the US a sporting edge.But in the end, it served as nothing more than a distraction to a team that Pochettino had worked so hard to keep focused on nothing but soccer.Such was the gap in quality, that in hindsight, it’s fair to suggest Belgium would have comfortably beaten the USMNT with or without Balogun — who scored three goals in his first four games — or any of the noise around his non-suspension.Postgame, Pochettino and captain Tim Ream insisted the saga wasn’t to blame for the heavy defeat.Pochttino insisted the Balogun saga had no impact on the US performanceGetty“It didn’t affect our performance. It’s not an excuse,” Pochettino said.“I think we were not good enough. It wasn’t our day. We didn’t perform in the way that we’re supposed to perform or show our quality.“All that was happening around (with the Balogun situation), it was around us, but I think it wasn’t a situation that affected us in the group.”Ream added: “It had no impact.Ream suggested outside noise was kept away from the team, despite a 4-1 defeatGetty“Outside noise. We’ve done a good job with this group of allowing outside noise to be outside noise.“It’s got nothing to do with us as players and getting ready for games. It’s one of those things that’s the world we live in.“So, we were fully focused on us as a group and as a team and fully focused on the game and not really worrying about what was being said or debated in the outside world.”Stay up to date on all things USMNT across 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.