USA 1–4 Belgium: De Ketelaere Masterclass Sends the Last Co-Host Out
The home World Cup ends without a home team. A night after Mexico's heartbreak and two after Canada's, the United States — the last co-host standing — ran into a Belgium side operating at a different altitude, and the 4–1 scoreline flattered nobody. Charles De Ketelaere delivered the individual performance of the round: two goals, one assist, and ninety minutes of the kind of movement American defenders will see when they close their eyes for weeks.
De Ketelaere Sets the Tone
It took nine minutes. Nicolas Raskin threaded the pass and De Ketelaere finished coolly — the fast start Belgium wanted and the exact scenario the USA had spent a week planning to avoid. To their credit, the hosts responded with their best spell of the night, and on 31 minutes it paid: Malik Tillman drove through and equalised in front of a crowd that suddenly believed again.
The belief lasted one hundred and twenty seconds. Straight from the restart pressure, Leandro Trossard released De Ketelaere, and Belgium's number ten restored the lead with his second of the night. 2–1 on 33 minutes — and the psychological damage of conceding immediately after scoring proved impossible to repair. Weston McKennie went into the book two minutes later as the USA chased shadows into half-time.
The Rout Completes Itself
Whatever was said in the American dressing room, Belgium answered it on 57 minutes — De Ketelaere the creator now, sliding in Hans Vanaken to make it 3–1 and effectively end the contest. The USA pushed for a route back and found only Belgian control; Tillman, their brightest player, collected a frustrated booking on 69.
Deep in stoppage time came the final flourish, and fittingly it was Belgium's bench that provided it: Romelu Lukaku, assisted by Vanaken, steering home the fourth. Thirteen years after Lukaku tormented the USA in that famous Salvador epic of 2014, he was still scoring against them — a detail that will amuse everyone except American fans.
What It Means
For the United States, a home World Cup that began with real promise ends in the Round of 16 with a scoreline that stings. The gap between a good tournament team and a genuine contender was laid bare by one opponent's front line. There are foundations here — Tillman's fearlessness among them — but the 2026 project was supposed to deliver more than this, at home, and the reckoning will be loud.
The wider story is remarkable: all three co-hosts are out within seventy-two hours — Canada swept aside by Morocco, Mexico broken by England, and the USA dismantled by Belgium. The party continues in North America; the hosts are no longer invited.
For Belgium, this was the performance of a side quietly assembling a serious run. Next comes Spain in the quarter-final — the tournament's two most fluent passing sides, and after a display like this, Belgium will fear nobody.
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⚽ Goals (5)
Cards (2)
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