Charles De Ketelaere’s first-half double helped send the Red Devils through to the quarter-finals at the expense of co-hosts USA.
USA 1-4 Belgium
USA goals: Tillman (31) Belgium goals: De Ketelaere (9, 33), Vanaken (57), Lukaku (90+3)
Belgium booked their place in the FIFA World Cup 2026™ quarter-finals with a 4-1 victory over USA at Seattle Stadium
Charles De Ketelaere’s brace, Hans Vanaken’s first World Cup goal and a late strike from substitute Romelu Lukaku set up a last-eight meeting with Spain, while USA became the final co-hosts to exit the tournament after Canada and Mexico had already bowed out in the Round of 16.
The warning signs were there for Mauricio Pochettino’s side when Timothy Castagne’s 18-yard strike forced Matt Freese into a flying save at the end of Belgium’s first meaningful attack.
Youri Tielemans then went within inches of turning home Dodi Lukebakio’s cross before Rudi Garcia’s men took a deserved lead. Leandro Trossard’s teasing delivery into the box caused all manner of problems for the USA defence, with Nicolas Raskin firing across for De Ketelaere to tap home.
Belgium appeared to be cruising, but their lead was cancelled out after 31 minutes when Malik Tillman’s deflected free-kick wrong-footed Thibaut Courtois. However, the scores were level for just 116 seconds as Trossard’s cross from the left found De Ketelaere, who headed home his second goal of the contest.
USA’s task was made even harder just before the hour mark when a defensive mishap gifted Belgium a third goal. Freese raced out of his area to clear but missed the ball, allowing De Ketelaere to steal possession before Vanaken’s long-range effort evaded Tim Ream’s attempted block and found the empty net.
The Stars and Stripes showed signs of life in the closing stages as substitute Sebastian Berhalter fired wide and Courtois denied Folarin Balogun, only for Lukaku to pounce on a loose clearance and finish with aplomb in stoppage time to put the result beyond any doubt.
Spain await Belgium at Los Angeles Stadium on 10 July after eliminating Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.
Key stat
Romelu Lukaku has scored in three successive World Cup games for the first time in his career.
Michelob Ultra Superior Player of the Match
Charles De Ketelaere (Belgium)
What they said…
“To everyone who got up in the middle of the night to support us, I’d like to say a huge thank you. They should be happy and proud of their players today. We showed that Belgium is a great football nation.” Rudi Garcia, Belgium coach
“It was really tough from the beginning. We congratulate Belgium, they were better than us. It wasn’t our day. We need to learn, we need to assess the game and understand why we did not approach the game in the same way we did as we did in the rest of the World Cup.” Mauricio Pochettino, USA coach