Seattle, UNITED STATES – A stellar individual masterclass from forward Charles De Ketelaere and a sequence of costly defensive errors brought a definitive end to the United States’ home World Cup run as Belgium secured an emphatic 4-1 victory at the Seattle Stadium.
The Round of 16 fixture kicked off amid intense political and global media scrutiny surrounding American striker Folarin Balogun, who started the game after FIFA controversially suspended his red-card ban. Okay News reports that the home enthusiasm was quickly deflated in the 9th minute when Charles De Ketelaere tapped home a sharp cross from Nicolas Raskin to give Belgium the early advantage.
The USMNT clawed back with a moment of absolute brilliance in the 31st minute when midfielder Malik Tillman whipped a fierce free-kick that took a heavy deflection to completely wrong-foot veteran keeper Thibaut Courtois, sending the 67,000-strong home crowd into brief delirium. However, the Red Devils required only 61 seconds to silence the arena once more, with De Ketelaere clinically heading home a cross from Leandro Trossard to score his second of the night and restore Belgium’s lead before halftime.
The tactical balance shattered entirely in the 57th minute due to a catastrophic error by American goalkeeper Matt Freese.Rushing out of his penalty area to sweep a long ball, Freese slipped and panicked under pressure from De Ketelaere, handing a short clearance directly to Belgian midfielder Hans Vanaken, who coolly fired into the wide-open net from long range. Matters worsened minutes later when captain Christian Pulisic was forced off with a painful lower-limb injury after kicking the back heel of a Belgian defender during a shot attempt. Veteran striker Romelu Lukaku came off the bench to put the final nail in the coffin deep into stoppage time, slotting home a powerful low strike after a defensive turnover to seal the victory. With the USMNT’s elimination, all three 2026 tournament co-hosts have officially crashed out in the Round of 16, while Belgium marches on to face Spain in a heavyweight quarter-final clash on Friday in Los Angeles.
