USA vs Belgium: World Cup 2026 Last 16 Result, Stats & What's Next
Belgium cruised past co-hosts USA 4-1 at Seattle Stadium with a Charles De Ketelaere brace, ending the last host nation's World Cup campaign.
7 July 2026
Result
USA 1-4 Belgium. Charles De Ketelaere's first-half double set Belgium on course for a comprehensive last-16 win at Seattle Stadium, Seattle, Washington, ending the last co-host nation's involvement in the tournament. Hans Vanaken added a third after a defensive howler from USA goalkeeper Matt Freese, and Romelu Lukaku put the gloss on the scoreline deep into stoppage time.
De Ketelaere opened the scoring after nine minutes, tapping in Nicolas Raskin's ball across goal after Leandro Trossard's cross had caused chaos in the American defence. Malik Tillman pulled the USA level with a deflected free-kick that wrong-footed Thibaut Courtois, but the parity lasted barely two minutes. Trossard swung in another cross from the left and De Ketelaere headed his second.
The third goal effectively killed the contest. Freese raced out of his area to deal with a through ball, misjudged it completely, and De Ketelaere stole possession. His square ball found Vanaken, who fired into the empty net from distance despite Tim Ream's desperate block attempt. Lukaku added the fourth in stoppage time, pouncing on a loose clearance.
USA had more of the ball but created very little. Courtois denied Folarin Balogun late on but Belgium were already out of sight.
Pool impact
Belgium have been a popular Last Man Standing pick throughout the tournament and this result will have kept thousands of entries alive. Spain await in the quarter-finals, which sets up a much tougher selection decision. Score Predictor pools will have been split by the margin: a three-goal Belgian win was not the most common call, so anyone who backed the Red Devils by that distance will have climbed the leaderboard.
Pre-match forecasts
Belgium entered as clear favourites, having topped their group and navigated a straightforward round-of-32 tie. The USA had impressed in spells during the group stage, beating Australia and Paraguay, but the gulf in quality against a top European side was exposed here. Mauricio Pochettino's side were expected to be competitive but few predicted them taking points.
Standout stats
De Ketelaere had a direct hand in three of Belgium's four goals, scoring twice and forcing the error that led to Vanaken's strike. He was named Player of the Match. Lukaku has now scored in three successive World Cup matches for the first time in his career. All three co-hosts -- Canada, Mexico, and the USA -- were eliminated at the last-16 stage. Belgium now face Spain in the quarter-finals.
What comes next
Belgium meet Spain in a heavyweight quarter-final at Los Angeles Stadium on 10 July. Spain are fresh from their own hard-fought 1-0 win over Portugal and will carry a tournament-record six consecutive clean sheets into the tie. It shapes as one of the most compelling matches of the tournament so far.
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