Belgium, the host of the 2026 World Cup, destroyed the United States and defeated them 4-1, on Tuesday morning, in the round of 16, to book their place in the quarter-finals after a decisive attacking display.
Belgium started the game with attacking pressure from the first seconds, as goalkeeper Matt Fries blocked Timothy Castaigne's effort in the first minute, before converting Youri Tielemans' shot into a corner after it bounced off the defence.
The pressure continued until Charles de Ketelar opened the scoring in the ninth minute, after taking advantage of Nicolas Raskin's pass and firing from close range into the net.
The Belgian national team received an early blow with the injury of Amadou Onana, to leave the stadium in the 21st minute and be replaced by Hans Vanaken, while the match was stopped more than once due to injuries to Chris Richards and Brandon Michele.
The U.S. team managed to equalize in the 31st minute through Malik Tillman, who brilliantly executed a direct free-kick into the net of Thibaut Courtois, after a mistake by Brandon Michele against Folarin Balogun in the 30th minute.
But Belgium's response was swift, with De Ketelar regaining the lead in the 33rd minute with a close-range header from Leandro Trossard, to end the first half with Belgium leading 2-1, after VAR overturned a refereeing decision on Folarin Balogun in stoppage time.
Useless substitutions
As the second half began, the U.S. were forced to make an early substitution with Giovanni Reyna in place of Sergiño Dest before Christian Pulisic left injured in the 59th minute, with Sebastian Berhalter coming on in his place.
Hans Vanaken extended the lead (3-1) in the 57th minute with a powerful shot from outside the box, taking advantage of De Ketelar's pass, to give Belgium a comfortable advantage.
The Belgian coach made two substitutions in the 67th minute with the entry of Romelu Lukaku and Jeremy Doku, while the U.S. team tried to come back through several chances, most notably Balogun's shot that Courtois saved in the 82nd minute, then the striker's header that passed by the post in the 83rd minute, and Sebastian Berhalter's shot in the 79th minute almost reduced the difference.
Lukaku 'kills' the American dream
In stoppage time, Lukaku ended the hosts' hopes of scoring a fourth goal in the second minute of stoppage time (+90+2), after receiving a pass from Vanaken and firing it into the right corner, before Balogun left the pitch directly for Haji Wright to come on in his place.
With this, the Belgium team, which dreams of winning the World Cup for the first time, hit a fiery date with the Spanish team, next Friday, in the round of 8 of the competition, in the American city of Los Angeles, provided that the winner of the two teams will qualify for the semi-finals to meet the winner of the French and Moroccan teams.
On the other hand, the United States became the last team to host the current World Cup, having bid farewell to the competition after Canada and Mexico, who also exited the round of 16, after losing to Morocco and England respectively.
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