Belgium ended the United States’ dream of a deep home World Cup run with a commanding 4-1 victory on Monday night, booking a place in the quarter-finals thanks to an inspired performance from Charles De Ketelaere.
De Ketelaere scored twice and provided an assist as the Red Devils capitalised on costly defensive mistakes by the Americans to seal their place in the last eight.
The U.S. welcomed back striker Folarin Balogun after FIFA controversially overturned his one-match suspension, but his return was not enough to prevent Mauricio Pochettino’s side from crashing out.
Belgium struck first in the eighth minute when De Ketelaere finished off a well-worked move after Dodi Lukébakio’s diagonal pass sparked the attack.
Timothy Castagne delivered a dangerous cross that the Belgian forward converted from close range.
The Americans responded in the 31st minute through Malik Tillman, whose free-kick took a deflection off Hans Vanaken before wrong-footing goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois for his second set-piece goal of the tournament.
However, the celebrations were short-lived as Belgium restored their lead just 61 seconds after the restart from the ensuing kickoff, leaving Pochettino visibly furious as he kicked over a rack of water bottles on the touchline.
The match tilted further in Belgium’s favour in the 57th minute after a costly blunder by U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese.
Racing off his line to clear a long ball, Freese completely missed his kick, allowing Vanaken to collect possession and fire into the net despite Tim Ream’s desperate attempt to block the effort.
The United States pushed forward in search of a way back into the contest, with substitute Sebastian Berhalter coming closest after his long-range strike narrowly missed the target.
Despite dominating possession in the closing stages, the hosts failed to break down Belgium’s disciplined defence.
Romelu Lukaku then wrapped up the victory in stoppage time, finishing clinically to make it 4-1 and put the result beyond doubt.
The defeat ended the Americans’ best World Cup campaign in the expanded 48-team tournament, having won three matches before reaching the round of 16.
It also marked their seventh consecutive defeat to Belgium and extended a poor run against European opposition, with the U.S. winning just one of their last 12 meetings against teams from the continent.
Belgium, unbeaten in 18 matches, progressed to the quarter-finals where they will face Spain on Friday in Inglewood, California, with a place in the semi-finals against either France or Morocco at stake.
The victory was even more impressive considering Belgium left key stars Jérémy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne on the bench, yet still comfortably exposed the defensive frailties that had troubled the Americans throughout the tournament.
