Belgium eliminates US 4-1 at Seattle Stadium

WASHINGTON, July 07 (YPA) – Belgium ruthlessly ended the United States’ World Cup campaign on Monday night, dismantling the co-hosts 4-1 in Seattle to secure a spot in the quarterfinals and deny the Americans their first last-eight appearance in 24 years.

Charles De Ketelaere opened the scoring for Belgium before the US temporarily found a lifeline. Balogun drew a foul outside the box, allowing Malik Tillman to fire home a brilliant free kick to level the score at 1-1.

However, the American joy lasted a mere two minutes. De Ketelaere struck again, nodding home a precise header to immediately restore Belgium’s lead and leave US manager Mauricio Pochettino exasperated on the touchline.

The second half exposed terminal defensive lapses from the co-hosts. In the 57th minute, US goalkeeper Matt Freese committed a catastrophic error outside his penalty area, gifting Hans Vanaken an open net to make it 3-1. Romelu Lukaku then put the exclamation point on the rout deep into stoppage time, capitalizing on another defensive collapse to seal the 4-1 victory.

Charles De Ketelaere was named Player of the Match after scoring twice and providing an assist, while Romelu Lukaku continued to rewrite the record books, becoming the first Belgian player to score three or more goals in multiple editions of the FIFA World Cup, having achieved the feat in both the 2018 and 2026 tournaments.

@E.Y.M