 COUVA, Trinidad and Tobago — On the most surreal and embarrassing night in U.S. soccer history, the U.S. men’s national team lost 2-1 to Trinidad and Tobago (the worst team in the CONCACAF Hexagonal) and was eliminated from contention for World Cup 2018. That’s 11,456 days of progress for a sport that’s come so far in a country that still hasn’t fully embraced it. Jurgen Klinsmann was fired as coach 11 months ago after losing at home to Mexico and getting embarrassed, 4-0, in a loss at Costa Rica over a four-day stretch. Bruce Arena 
 
 Arena, previously in charge of the national team from 1998 to 2006, was brought in to dig the U.S. out of Klinsmann’s hole. As bad as things got for the USMNT, the possibility of missing the World Cup didn’t actually seem real. Sunil Gulati, the president of the United States Soccer Federation, could be in trouble. It was also supposed to serve as a coming-out party and passing of the torch for the American wunderkind Christian Pulisic, the 19-year-old who scored the Americans' lone goal Tuesday night and who is clearly the future of the team's success if it's to have any. Poor Omar Gonzalez, burned last month for Honduras’ goal, had his attempted clearance sail over Howard and into the net for an own goal.
– The short version is easy enough: Trinidad and Tobago upset the US Mens National Team in soccer Tuesday night, and the 2-1 loss means that the Americans won't qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986. But just how bad a loss is this? The defeat is "the most surreal and embarrassing night in US soccer history," writes Grant Wahl for Sports Illustrated. "Unthinkable," declares the New York Times. "With that loss, the USMNT gave a nation the lowest point in its sporting history, and it’s not really close," writes Andrew Joseph for USA Today. "It took 90-plus minutes for United States soccer to regress 30 years," writes Frank Isola at the Daily News. The kicker is that two other games fell the wrong way in unexpected fashion, one on a "phantom goal," sealing the US fate. Honduras rallied from two goals down to beat Mexico, and Panama rallied from one goal back to beat Costa Rica. Had either of those games gone the other way, or had the US even tied Trinidad and Tobago (which had previously been eliminated from qualifying), the Americans would have secured a spot in Russia for the 2018 competition. Of note: Phantom goal: The winning goal scored by Panama against Costa Rica didn't cross the goal line, per CBS Sports, which has video here. The story raises the faint hope that the US could appeal the goal ruling, but it seems unlikely. "As far as I know, there is no recourse," says a US soccer official. Pity Fox Sports: The network paid $200 million, outbidding ESPN, for the rights to televise the 2018 World Cup and showcase teen phenom Christian Pulisic, notes Business Insider. It's now going to be tough for that investment to pay off. Five culprits: Yahoo Sports looks at what went wrong in the US game, and why Bruce Arena has almost certainly coached his last game for the team.