Coulibaly ruled out what looked like a legitimate Maurice Edu strike late on.
Had the goal stood, it would have given the USA a 3-2 lead, and capped a remarkable comeback after they trailed 2-0 at half time.
But instead Bob Bradley's team had to be satisfied with just a point, although the result could well be enough if they can muster three points against Algeria.
After the game Donovan, who grabbed the first from a tight angle, questioned Coulibaly's officiating.
"I'm proud of our guys, you don't get that many teams who respond in that way after going 2-0 down," he said.
"But I am gutted. I don't know how they stole that third goal from us. All I saw was a good finish and a good goal, I'm not sure what the call was, he didn't tell us what the call was.
"It was the guy's first World Cup game, may be he got caught up in the moment. Overall it wasn't too bad, but you can't take a good goal away from a team."
