Belgium defeated the United States in a Round of 16 match at the FIFA World Cup currently being held across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The game took place in Seattle and ended with a 4-1 victory for the Belgian side. Charles De Ketelaere scored twice for the winners (9th and 33rd minutes), while Hans Vanaken (57th) and Romelu Lukaku (90+3) each added a goal. Malik Tillman found the net for the Americans in the 31st minute.
US striker Folarin Balogun, who was shown a red card during the Round of 32 match against Bosnia and was expected to sit out the game against Belgium, started in the US lineup. On Sunday, FIFA’s disciplinary committee suspended Balogun’s red card with a one-year probation period. Later, US President Donald Trump stated that he had reached out to FIFA following the forward’s ejection and thanked the organization for correcting what he described as a “huge injustice.”
All host nations have now been eliminated from the World Cup, as Canada and Mexico had already exited at the same stage of the tournament.
The United States has now exited in the Round of 16 for the fourth consecutive World Cup (2010, 2014, 2022), having failed to qualify for the 2018 tournament in Russia—where Belgium achieved its best-ever result by finishing third.
In the quarterfinals of the current tournament, Belgium will take on the reigning European champions, Spain, on July 10. The World Cup is set to conclude on July 19.
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