Belgium beat the USA 4-1 to end the hosts’ World Cup and set up a quarter-final with Spain
The co-hosts are out. A Charles De Ketelaere double, plus goals from Hans Vanaken and Romelu Lukaku, sent Belgium past the United States and into a quarter-final against Spain.
Jul 7, 2026
The host nation is out, and it was not close in the end. Belgium knocked the United States out of their own World Cup in the last 16, winning 4-1 in Seattle overnight to book a quarter-final against Spain. A Charles De Ketelaere double did the early damage, a goalkeeping error blew the game open after the break, and Romelu Lukaku added a fourth at the death to make the scoreline as emphatic as the performance.
De Ketelaere strikes twice
De Ketelaere opened the scoring inside the opening ten minutes, turning in a ball the United States should have cleared long before it reached him. The reply was a good one. Malik Tillman levelled in the 31st minute with a free kick from the edge of the box, struck cleanly enough to give the Belgium goalkeeper no chance. The parity lasted two minutes. De Ketelaere headed in his second in the 33rd, and Belgium went in at half time 2-1 ahead.
The game gets away from the hosts
The United States needed a clean, controlled second half. They did not get one. In the 57th minute goalkeeper Matt Freese made a mess of the ball at his feet and handed Hans Vanaken the simplest of finishes for 3-1. Christian Pulisic, the face of this side, was taken off with a knock soon afterwards, and with him went the last of the belief on the touchline. Lukaku made it four in stoppage time, running onto a Vanaken pass, and the margin told the story of the night.
The co-hosts go home
This is a heavy way for a home World Cup to end. The United States had done enough in the group stage and the earlier knockout round to feel they belonged in the last 16, but they ran into a Belgium team that took its chances and punished every loose moment. There will be hard questions about the goals they gave away, and about a night when the weight of playing at home seemed to press down on them rather than lift them.
Belgium have defensive lapses of their own to iron out, but they carry the kind of forwards who settle knockout ties, and four goals on the road is a statement whatever the caveats. Spain, fresh from their win over Portugal, are next. On this evidence Belgium will not walk into that quarter-final feeling like underdogs.