AUBURN — Before the United States soccer team lost to Belgium on Tuesday, local people were hopeful.

Oversized television screens at Gipper’s Sports Grill were ablaze with games.

Most eyes were on the World Cup.

Lewiston-Auburn had soccer fever.

“I’m optimistic,” said Steve Thompson of Auburn, wearing a red, white and blue shirt. “It’s going to be a hard game. We played Belgium last year and they smoked us.” But the home team exceeded expectations in the World Cup. “I’m hoping they’re going to pull it off.”

At a nearby table Josh Cousineau and his sons, Braden, 8, and Tanner, 6, sat with fellow soccer fans.

“I’ve watched 90 percent of the games this year” when he wasn’t working, Cousineau said. “It’s been awesome, really fun to watch. They’ve been playing well.”

Tim Sewall of Lisbon said he watched every game. He was on vacation. When the United States lost to Germany, he and friends were watching multiple games and calculated the result. “We already knew they would advance with the loss.”

Twenty minutes into Tuesday’s game, the U.S. got off a good shot against Belgium. “Ooooohhhh!” went the Gipper’s crowd.

The shot was blocked; no score.

More shots came. More “ooohhhs.” No score.

“It’s going to be a nail-biter. I think they’re evenly matched,” said Anita Denis of Auburn. She said she doesn’t normally follow soccer but came out for this game.

Earlier in the day at Lewiston’s Tree Street Youth Center, the World Cup was the talk.

Soccer player Maulid Abdow, 16, who plays for Seacoast United of Maine, said he didn’t play Tuesday. His game was canceled so players could watch the World Cup game.

In the local Somali community, soccer is the No. 1 sport.

Rilwan Osman, executive director of the Somali Bantu Youth Association of Maine, taped the game so he could watch it when he got home.

“Soccer is the only sport I played in the refugee camps, and here,” Osman said. His organization hosts soccer leagues every summer. His youth players have been all abuzz about the world cup.

Abdow said he’s played soccer since he was little. The United States team did well. “They weren’t supposed to get out of the ‘Group of Death.’ That’s what everybody said.”

Sahara Abdirahman, 16, who plays soccer for Lewiston High School, agreed. The United States has improved a lot, she said. “The first game, nobody thought they were going to win. They showed themselves. They really wanted it and they won. People started rooting for them, especially the United States fans.”

She predicted the match would be tough. “I don’t truly believe the U.S. is going to win. It’s going to be a hard game.”

Mohamed Musse, 18, Isha Matan, 18, and Raul Martinez, 13, planned to watch. Musse said defense would be critical. “It’s the best game ever.”

Back at Gipper’s, by halftime neither team had scored.

Late into the game, it was still a tie. The match went into extra time.

During the two 15-minute overtime halves, Belgium scored once, then twice. Then came a score for the United States, raising hopes.

But the clock ran out, giving Belgium the win.

“It’s somewhat devastating because we almost had it,” Josh Cousineau said. “They had a couple of good shots at the end and almost tied it. The shots should have gone in. It didn’t roll our way.”

Still, the team did a lot better than most people thought they would, he said.

Tim Sewall said he’d like to see the popularity of soccer continue after the 2014 World Cup games end.

Unlike other countries, the United States team doesn’t have a big soccer hero. A big star would encourage more fans, Sewall said.

“We need a Tom Brady for soccer.”