The USMNT managed to find their way out of the group stage in the 2022 World Cup thanks to their 1-0 victory over Iran on Tuesday afternoon, but they were unable to have the same success against a much stronger Netherlands side on Saturday morning. Despite their best efforts, USA ended up losing to the Netherlands by a score of 3-1, which means they have officially been eliminated from the tournament.

It was always going to be tough for the Americans to beat the Dutch in this game, as the Netherlands had an extremely strong start to the tournament, and continued that strong play in this one. Despite having their chances in this game, the USMNT were never able to fully assert themselves in this one, and they ultimately ended up bowing out of the contest.

This was a game that the Americans could have won, or at the very least, made competitive, had they taken advantage of their chances along the way. But their failure to do so resulted in the United States coming up short, and there are a couple of players who played a bigger role in this loss than others. Let's take a look at three players who are most responsible for this loss and see why that's the case.

3. Jesus Ferreira

USA manager Gregg Berhalter made the strange decision to include Jesus Ferreira in the starting lineup for this game despite him barely playing the group stage, and it didn't work out too well for the USMNT. Ferreira failed to do much of anything in the first half, and had Gio Reyna started over him, the Americans might have been able to keep this game a bit closer in the first half.

Ferreira didn't do anything to liven up the Americans attack when he was on the pitch, and made a couple of key mistakes that could have made things even worse for the United States. Ferreira had a particularly egregious giveaway around midfield, and he was lucky the Netherlands didn't end up turning it into a goal.

Ferreira was ultimately subbed out at halftime in favor of Reyna, and it was no surprise to see Reyna add a bit of creativity to the USMNT's attack that simply didn't exist when Ferreira was on the field. It's not Ferreira's fault that he started, but considering he was on the field, he needed to do more, and his effort in this game was not what it needed to be.

2. Tim Ream

It wasn't a great day for any one on the USMNT's defense, but Tim Ream had a particularly poor showing to close out what had been a strong tournament for himself. Ream had been America's anchor on the backline in the group stage, but he struggled to hold off a strong Netherlands attack all afternoon long, and it killed the United States in this one.

Ream wasn't directly responsible for anyone of the Netherlands' three goals, but both Memphis Depay and Daley Blind were unmarked in the middle of the box on their two first half goals. Ream was guarding space, and if you don't have a body in the box on a cross, you are in the wrong spot.

Ream also missed a glorious chance to score America's first goal when a bouncing ball off a corner kick found its way to him, but he completely whiffed on the ball, barely getting a touch to it, and it was cleared off the line. Had Ream managed to find the back of the net there, or prevented one of the Netherlands' goals, maybe this game looks a bit different.

1. Antonee Robinson

Antonee Robinson has become a huge part of the USMNT's defense, but he was easily the worst player on the field for America in this game. Robinson failed to make any sort of contribution offensively, and played a role in allowing the Netherlands to score each of their three goals.

On the first two, Robinson gave way too much space for Denzel Dumfries to make pushes up the field from defense. Dumfries was easily able to pick out Depay and Blind in the center of the box on his crosses, and it left goalkeeper Matt Turner, and the rest of the defense really, without a chance to prevent the ball from going in.

On the third goal, shortly after Haji Wright made the game 2-1, Robinson was napping and left Dumfries completely unmarked at the back post, and he easily potted the Dutch's third goal of the game. It was not a great outing for Robinson, and had he played better, this game could have been won by the USMNT.