The USMNT has been eliminated from the World Cup in the round of 16 for the fourth straight time, as Mauricio Pochettino’s side was comprehensively beaten by Belgium in Seattle on Monday.
MORE — USA player ratings | What we learned | Mauricio Pochettino reaction
Belgium were all over the Americans from the opening whistle, forcing Matt Freese to make a fantastic diving stop to keep it scoreless 45 seconds in, but the resistance only held until the 9th minute when Charles De Ketelaere got lost in the shuffle and tapped home from the doorstep. Malik Tillman scored a free kick for the second straight game (with the help of a deflection) in the 31st, but De Ketelaere towered over Tim Ream for a header and powered it past Freese to restore Belgium’s lead 61 seconds after the restart.
That was the beginning of the end for the USMNT, as their heads dropped and Belgium were simply too much for them to match on the day. Romelu Lukaku, Jeremy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne all began the game on the bench, yet Belgium were already 3-1 ahead before any of them came on. That’s because Hans Vanaken scored from 35 yards out after Freese tragically turned the ball over outside his penalty area. Lukaku added goal no. 4 in stoppage time, putting the exclamation point on a thoroughly dominant performance.
The Red Devils will have their hands full with reigning European champions Spain in the quarterfinals on Friday (3 pm ET).
USA vs Belgium final score: 1-4
Goalscorers: Charles De Ketelaere (9', 33'), Malik Tillman (31'), Hans Vanaken (57'), Romelu Lukaku (90'+3)
The USMNT looks a step and a half slow to everything. Chances are coming far too easily for Belgium at the moment, and now they’re ahead after just a terrible sequence of defending. Nicolas Raskin picked out Charles De Ketelaere with a cross inside the six-yard box, simple as could be.
¡¡¡GOL DE BÉLGICA!!! ¡¡¡SILENCIA EL ESTADIO DE SEATTLE!!!
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 7, 2026
Charles De Ketelaere la manda a guardar, los belgas aprovechan un error en defensa de Estados Unidos. pic.twitter.com/Y28mJLDfae
First shot of the game from the USMNT, and they are level. Malik Tillman took a free kick from 25 yards out and it took a deflection off the head of Hans Vanaken, who came on to replace Amadou Onana a few minutes earlier, and wrong-footed Thibaut Courtois.
USMNT back in business.
¡¡¡GOL DE ESTADOS UNIDOS!!! ¡¡¡GOLAAAAAZO DE TIRO LIBRE!!!
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 7, 2026
Malik Tillman firma el empate contra Bélgica, el disparo tuvo un desvío y el balón se mete a la portería. pic.twitter.com/FThVMSRr5b
The 1-1 scoreline was nice for two minutes, because Belgium are back in front. De Ketelaere has a brace after beating Tim Ream to a header at the back post.
¡¡¡BÉLGICA OTRA VEZ SE PONE ARRIBA!!!
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 7, 2026
Charles De Ketelaere firma su DOBLETE, centro de Trossard y marca de cabeza.
Estados Unidos pierde 1-2 en Seattle. pic.twitter.com/4SXO3ShF3Q
Well, we have our answer. “The Matt Freese Game” will be remembered for all of the wrong reasons. An inexplicable giveaway well outside the penalty area, caught between two minds, and for no reason.
¡¡¡GOL DE BÉLGICA!!! ¡¡¡TREMENDO ERROR DEL PORTERO ESTADOUNIDENSE!!!
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 7, 2026
Hans Vanaken aprovecha error defensivo de Estados Unidos, Matt Freese comete la pérdida de pelota. pic.twitter.com/f6DQFPwyru
Romelu Lukaku is a decent option to bring off the bench, isn’t he? Fully fresh after coming on in the 67th minute, he was simply too much for Chris Richards to wrestle away from goal.
Game, set, match.
¡¡¡LUKAKUUUUU!!! ¡¡¡APARECIÓ EL HISTÓRICO DE BÉLGICA!!!
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 7, 2026
Romelu aprovecha error defensivo de Estados Unidos y marca el 1-4, ¡Silencio total en Seattle! pic.twitter.com/rTBvARfK8G
Pulisic thought he was about to uncork a curler from the edge of the penalty area a few minutes ago, but Tielemans got a foot in between Pulisic and the ball. That caused Pulisic to kick the back of Tielemans foot and injure himself in the process. Just a disastrous sequence of events for the USMNT’s already faint hopes.
Dest had a very poor night on the right wing and was brought off at halftime. Gio Reyna replaces him, presumably to play more centrally and allow Alex Freeman to get forward from right back.
Score: 1-2
Possession: 47-53
Shots: 3-11
On target (1-5
xG: 0.42-1.90
Positive spin: That’s about as bad as the USMNT (nearly every individual) could have possibly played, yet they are (somehow) only a goal down.
Not-so-positive: The way they are defending tonight, the Yanks might need four or five goals to win it. Not sure they will have that many chances, even.
It’s all Belgium right now and the Yanks are definitely lucky to still be level at 0-0. Castagne got in behind on the right wing and played the ball across goal for Youri Tielemans making the late run but whiffed when it came time to finish.
Matt Freese has had to do almost nothing this World Cup, and already tonight he has gone full stretch to palm one away from the top corner. Will “The Matt Freese Game” be remembered as a happy or sad memory for USMNT fans two hours from now?
Having watched the USMNT play countless virtual road games on home soil for the better part of the last two decades, this atmosphere in the Pacific Northwest is hard to comprehend. We have had plenty of false starts before, but it’s finally fully safe to say that soccer has made it in the United States.
This is beyond anything we ever dreamt it could be. Let’s go win it, boys.
Courtois - Castagne, Mechele, Ngoy, De Cuyper - Raskin, Onana, Tielemans - Lukebakio, Trossard, De Ketelaere
Key players on the bench: Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku, Romelu Lukaku
Freese - Freeman, Richards, Ream - Dest, Adams, McKennie, Tillman, Robinson - Pulisic, Balogun
The date was July 1, 2014. It was the round of 16. The game was played in Salvador, Brazil.
Tim Howard made 16 saves, but Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku scored early in extra-time. Julian Green gave the Americans a faint hope late, but Jurgen Klinsmann’s side fell short.
Kick off time: 8 pm ET Monday (July 6)
Venue: Lumen Field — Seattle
TV Channel: Telemundo
Streaming: Stream live on Peacock, en Espanol
