Co-hosts United States bowed out of the FIFA World Cup 2026 after suffering a 4-1 defeat to Belgium in their Round of 16 clash at Seattle Stadium on Monday. Charles De Ketelaere starred with a first-half brace before Hans Vanaken and substitute Romelu Lukaku completed the scoring to send the Red Devils into the quarter-finals, where they will face Spain.
Belgium made the brighter start and took the lead in the eighth minute after slicing through the American defence. Nicolas Raskin burst into the right side of the penalty area before squaring a low ball across the six-yard box for De Ketelaere, who arrived unmarked to steer home from close range. The United States responded in the 31st minute when Malik Tillman's free-kick took a significant deflection off the Belgian wall, wrong-footing Thibaut Courtois and nestling in the back of the net.
The hosts' joy was short-lived as Belgium restored their advantage just two minutes later. Leandro Trossard whipped in a teasing cross from the left flank and De Ketelaere rose above Tim Ream to power a downward header beyond Matt Freese, completing his brace and swinging the momentum firmly back in Belgium's favour.
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Belgium tightened their grip on the contest in the 57th minute after a costly error from goalkeeper Matt Freese. Racing well outside his penalty area to deal with a long ball, Freese hesitated and completely missed his clearance, allowing Charles De Ketelaere to steal possession. The forward deflected the ball into the path of Hans Vanaken, whose long-range effort beat Tim Ream's desperate last-ditch block attempt and found the empty net to make it 3-1.
Rudi Garcia introduced Romelu Lukaku and Jérémy Doku midway through the second half, and the former added a fourth deep into stoppage time. Chris Richards scuffed his clearance inside the penalty area, allowing Lukaku to muscle his way onto the loose ball before cutting inside and calmly beating the stranded Freese to complete Belgium's emphatic victory.
De Ketelaere became the first Belgian player to be directly involved in three goals in a FIFA World Cup knockout match, scoring twice in the first half before setting up Hans Vanaken for Belgium's third goal.
The Red Devils will now take on Spain in a blockbuster quarter-final on July 10 after La Roja edged Portugal 1-0 earlier in the day.
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