FIFA World Cup

Round of 16

USA USA USA - BEL Belgium Belgium

USA USA

Belgium Belgium

90' +3'
R. Lukaku
57'
H. Vanaken

33'
C. De Ketelaere
M. Tillman
31'
9'
C. De Ketelaere

Seattle Stadium(Sold out)

Adham Mohammed Tumah Makhadmeh

Full-time: USA 1-4 Belgium

Belgium advance to the last eight after a complete performance that saw them score four goals. The US, meanwhile, made far too many mistakes at the back, allowing Belgium to run away with the result in the end.

End of second half

Full-time

Lukaku seals the win

And it comes from more defensive errors at the back. This time it is Richards who dallies on the ball, allowing Vanaken to block his pass into the path of Lukaku and Belgium's record scorer tucks home a superb finish to add the icing on the cake.

90'

+ 3

Romelu Lukaku

GOAL!

1:4

Assist:H. Vanaken

Goal probability

Goal probability determines the likelihood that the ball will land in the goal from every position on the pitch. The value is based on large amounts of data from previous years; factors such as shot angle, distance to goal and opponent pressure - as well as mathematical models.

16 %

Distance to Goal

The distance to goal is measured at the time of the shot - from the position of the ball to the center of the goal.

13.52 m

90'

+ 2

Substitution

Max Arfsten

Antonee Robinson

90'

+ 2

Substitution

Haji Wright

Folarin Balogun

90'

+ 1

Added time

There will be four minutes of added time. Surely too little left for the US to turn things around.

89'

Belgium running down the clock

Two more changes for Belgium eat up valuable time as Witsel and Saelemaekers replace Raskin and Trossard.

89'

Substitution

Axel Witsel

Nicolas Raskin

89'

Substitution

Alexis Saelemaekers

Leandro Trossard

86'

Important block

Doku does brilliantly to beat his man and feed Lukaku in the box. He is crowded out, but Doku recycles the ball to Trossard. He works himself half a yard before firing towards the far corner, where Richards launches himself in the way.

84'

Onana returns to the bench

And it doesn't look good for the midfielder. He is on crutches and wearing a knee brace. That could well be the end of his tournament.

82'

Balogun remains a threat on the break

Mechele fails to deal with a long ball, allowing Balogun space to shoot from an angle inside the box, but Courtois is there to make a somewhat unconvincing save.

79'

Not far away

A bouncing ball on the edge of the box drops to Berhalter, who catches the half-volley sweetly, narrowly missing the corner.

78'

Running out of time

There are now a little over 10 minutes plus added time for the US to score twice. Right now, that doesn't look like it'll happening.

72'

Pepi on for the US

An attacking change for the US sees attacker Pepi come on for midfielder Adams.

72'

Substitution

Ricardo Pepi

Tyler Adams

72'

Back underway

And the ball is moving once again. Can the US find a way back into the game?

70'

Drinks break

Another pause so that players can take on fluids.

69'

Tillman picks up a yellow

The Leverkusen man stops Tielemans from getting forward with a tactical foul.

69'

Yellow card

Malik Tillman

68'

Double change

Doku and Lukaku are on for Lukébakio and De Ketelaere.

67'

Substitution

Romelu Lukaku

Charles De Ketelaere

67'

Substitution

Jérémy Doku

Dodi Lukébakio

66'

Off target

Freeman meets a corner with his head, but the effort loops harmlessly wide of the target.

62'

A dangerous break

De Ketelaere and Trossard spring a counterattack that ends with the Arsenal man winning a corner via a deflected shot.

59'

Pulišić goes off

The ex-Dortmund man seemed to hurt himself a few minutes ago, and now he is replaced by Berhalter.

59'

Substitution

Sebastian Berhalter

Christian Pulišić

Vanaken makes it 3-1!

And it is a catastrophic mistake by Freese that gives Belgium the goal. De Ketelaere chases a long ball over the top that Freese gets to first, but then makes a complete mess of it. The goalkeeper controls the ball before taking too long to clear, meaning De Ketelaere can block his pass. The ball then lands at the feet of Vanaken, who curls his effort around the goalkeeper and through the retreating Ream from 35 yards out.

57'

Hans Vanaken

GOAL!

1:3

Assist:C. De Ketelaere

Goal probability

1 %

Distance to Goal

The distance to goal is measured at the time of the shot - from the position of the ball to the center of the goal.

31.4 m

55'

No way through

The Americans are moving the ball around with more zip, but the Belgian defence is holding firm.

50'

More tempo from the US

No chances as of yet, but there is more energy in the play of the Americans since the break.

46'

Back underway

The ball is moving once again as Gladbach's Reyna replaces Dest at the break.

Kick-off!

45'

+ 7

Substitution

Giovanni Reyna

Sergiño Dest

Half-time: USA 1-2 Belgium

Despite Tillman's goal, Belgium go into the break with a deserved 2-1 lead. The pace and power of the Belgian attack has just been too much for the US defence so far. The US do remain a threat, however, and are still very much in this game.

Half-time

45'

+ 4

Good delivery

Lukébakio is fed the ball in the box, and he whips a low cross/shot across goal that nobody can make contact with.

45'

+ 1

Added time

There will be six extra minutes before the break.

45'

Balogun fires over

Freeman flicks on Tillman's long throw, and Balogun is there in the centre to shoot over the bar under pressure from Ngoy. That was a real opportunity.

44'

Belgium deservedly in front

xGoals

The xGoals value of a club is calculated from the sum of all goal probabilities (goals and shots on goal) of that team. During a match, it’s easy to see whether the club is performing better than expected (goals > xGoals) - or maybe even higher (xGoals > goals).

The visitors have been excellent so far, and they should arguably be leading by more than just one goal.

xGoals

0.11

2.22

Goals

43'

Great chance

A free-kick from the left finds the run of Lukébakio in the perfect position in the box, but he can only head wide from a few yards out. That should have been three!

39'

Freese gets down to make the stop

A Belgian corner is flicked towards goal by Raskin, and Freese has to be alert at his near post to gather the ball.

35'

In the book

McKennie catches Raskin with a high challenge and goes into the referee's book.

35'

Yellow card

Weston McKennie

De Ketelaere at the double

What a couple of minutes! Trossard gets to the byline and stands up a cross to the middle, where De Ketelaere leaps above Ream to head Belgium in front once more.

33'

Charles De Ketelaere

GOAL!

1:2

Assist:L. Trossard

Goal probability

58 %

Distance to Goal

The distance to goal is measured at the time of the shot - from the position of the ball to the center of the goal.

3.51 m

Tillman levels things up

The Leverkusen midfielder tries to whip the free-kick over the wall, and Vanaken gets his head to the effort, deflecting the ball awkwardly in the process and leaving Courtois in no man's land.

31'

Malik Tillman

GOAL!

1:1

Goal probability

11 %

Distance to Goal

The distance to goal is measured at the time of the shot - from the position of the ball to the center of the goal.

23.12 m

30'

Not much in that

Balogun wins a free-kick in a good position after light contact from Mechele. It's in a good position too.

27'

Back underway

Courtois sends the ball long to restart proceedings.

25'

Drinks break

The players take a moment to have some fluids.

22'

Lucky boy

Richards almost gifts De Ketelaere the ball inside his own box, but just about gets away with it.

21'

The early change

Onana can't continue, and he is replaced by Vanaken.

21'

Substitution

Hans Vanaken

Amadou Onana

20'

Another stoppage

This time, it is Mechele who is down after taking a blow to the ribs.

18'

Onana down injured

The Aston Villa midfielder lands awkwardly on his knee and needs treatment.

14'

More danger

Belgium are really on top now as the US just about clear a dangerous cross before Trossard adds to the shot tally with a couple more efforts.

De Ketelaere fires Belgium in front

Freeman heads Trossard's deflected cross into the air in the box, and nobody goes for the second ball except Raskin. He takes the ball in his stride and fires the ball across goal where De Ketelaere has the simplest of tasks to sweep the ball home.

Charles De Ketelaere

GOAL!

0:1

Assist:N. Raskin

Goal probability

72 %

Distance to Goal

The distance to goal is measured at the time of the shot - from the position of the ball to the center of the goal.

2.84 m

Big chance wasted

Lukébakio does brilliantly to burst through the midfield before feeding Castagne free on the right. He sends in a low cross that Tielemans just needs to sweep home from the penalty spot, but he barely connects with the ball and the US survive.

Belgium have started quickly

The visitors have looked dangerous in the opening stages, getting a few shots away already.

Goal attempts

0off target

0on target

2off target

2on target

Headed goalwards

De Ketelaere gets up highest from the corner, but his header is easy for Freese to gather.

Almost an early opener

A long throw into the box causes the US problems. The ball lands at the feet of Youri Tielemans on the edge of the box. His shot is blocked, but Castagne's follow-up effort has to be clawed away by Freese as it was heading towards the top corner.

We're underway

Belgium get the ball moving as Trossard tries his luck inside the first few seconds, but his effort is immediately blocked.

Kick-off!

Players on the pitch

The national anthems are playing as we rapidly approach kick-off.

Players finishing their warm-ups

Not long now until we get underway.

Spain awaits the winner

Whoever comes out on top tonight will be up against Spain in the quarter-final. The Spaniards overcame their Portuguese neighbours thanks to a 90th-minute winner from Mikel Merino.

0:20

Watch: The US fans ahead of kick-off

0:25

Watch: The Belgian fans ahead of kick-off

USA team news

The big news for the US is that Balogun starts despite being sent off in their 2-0 win over Bosnia & Herzegovina. That means that the hosts are unchanged once again today.

Belgium team news

There are a few surprise changes in the Belgian starting XI, with a couple of big names dropping to the bench. Frankfurt's Theate is replaced by Ngoy at centre-back, whilst in midfield, Vanaken and De Bruyne lose out to Onana and Raskin. On the wing, Manchester City's Doku is also left out in favour of Lukébakio.

Starting line-up: USA

Formation:3-3-2-2

USA subs

Brady, Turner, McKenzie, M. Robinson, Scally, Trusty, Weah, Arfsten, Berhalter, Reyna, Zendejas, Aaronson, Pepi, Wright

Starting line-up: Belgium

Formation:4-2-3-1

Belgium subs

Lammens, Penders, de Winter, Debast, Meunier, Seys, Theate, Witsel, De Bruyne, Moreira, Doku, Saelemaekers, Vanaken, Fernandez-Pardo, Lukaku

26:00

Watch: Tillman in 'Road to the Americas'

Follow the US international during his maiden campaign with Bayer Leverkusen, keeping across the highs and lows as he prepared for a World Cup on home soil.

Balogun available

Leverkusen's Malik Tillman (r.) is one of six US players to score at this World Cup, but their main man has been Folarin Balogun (l.) with three goals. There was real concern ahead of this game after the Monaco striker was sent off against Bosnia. However, FIFA have confirmed that his one-game ban has been suspended for a year, meaning the 25-year-old is now eligible to face Belgium.

Head-to-head record

The USA beat Belgium 3-0 in the group stage of the inaugural World Cup in 1930, but the Red Devils have won all six meetings since - including a 5-2 friendly win back in March. The nations also met in the last 16 at the 2014 tournament, with Belgium triumphing 2-1 after extra time.

How they got here: Belgium

Draws against Egypt (1-1) and Iran (0-0) in their opening two games left Belgium needing to beat New Zealand in their final Group G match to reach the knockouts. The Red Devils triumphed 5-1 in Vancouver to top the section, before staging a miraculous comeback in a 3-2 victory over Senegal in the round of 32 to reach the last 16.

How they got here: USA

Mauricio Pochettino’s team booked their place in the knockout stages with victories over Paraguay (4-1) and Australia (2-0), with a subsequent 3-2 defeat to Türkiye not enough to deny the co-hosts top spot in Group D. The Stars and Stripes beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 in the round of 32 - their first knockout-stage victory in 24 years.

Welcome along!

Follow all of the action as the USA take on Belgium in the FIFA World Cup 2026 round of 16. The game at the Seattle Stadium kicks off at 2am CEST on Tuesday, 7 July.