Belgium buries the Balogun circus and USA’s World Cup dream in a 4-1 victory
The United States got their wish. Folarin Balogun was back, returning to the team after a suspension saga that was dramatic enough to draw intervention from US President Donald Trump.
Belgium’s reaction? A shrug, a smirk and a 4-1 mauling.
Rudi Garcia’s side turned the entire Balogun circus into a footnote in Seattle on Tuesday, outplaying the co-hosts with a crisp, controlled display from start to finish. The United States’ home World Cup is coming to an end. Belgium continues and now the European champion Spain awaits them in the quarter-finals.
For days, all cameras, headlines and radio calls were focused on a single question: was the decision made? prohibit the suspension of Balogun right? By the time the whistle blew, Belgium made sure no one cared. Aggressive without the ball, silky with it and clinical when it mattered, the Red Devils produced arguably their best 90 minutes of the tournament and managed it with half the star power on the bench.
USA vs Belgium, FIFA World Cup 2026, Round of 16: Highlighting
THE GREAT HAZARD GARCIA
The first shock came even before the ball was kicked.
Kevin De Bruyne. Romelu Lukaku. Jeremy Doku. All on the bench. In an elimination game. Eyebrows shot up as the team sheets landed. It was either inspired or crazy, and there was nothing in between.
It looked like a stroke of genius at full-time as Belgium flew out of the traps and simply never let the hosts take a breather. Timothy Castagne forced a save from Matt Frees and Dodi Lukebakio was already drawing defenders down the right and headed it to Youri Tielemans, who somehow managed to miss the open net.
Consider it a warning shot, but the US did not back down. Moments later, a scrambled American clearance fell straight to Nicolas Raskin, who headed Charles De Ketelaere to slot the ball into an empty net. Seattle, bouncing seconds earlier, fell silent.
The home team struck briefly. Malik Tillman’s free-kick took an unfortunate shot from Hans Vanaken, beat Thibaut Courtois and equalized in the 31st minute. Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Jeremy Doku were on the bench against the USA. (Image: Reuters)
But it only lasted sixty seconds. Leandro Trossard flicked a cross at the back post, De Ketelaere outmuscled Tim Ream in the air and Belgium were back in front. It was his second of the night, and the US barely had time to catch its breath, let alone build momentum.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side rallied after the break, but the game, and perhaps the tournament, died down just before the hour mark.
Freese ran out of line to clear a long ball, hesitated and paid the price. De Ketelaere blocked a panicked clearance, the ball rolled to Vanaken with an open goal and Ream, scrambling back in horror, somehow made matters worse, turning a bad moment into a 3-1 disaster.
Called on from the bench for the final act, Lukaku added the cherry on top in stoppage time: a calm, almost boring finish for career goal No. 93 as the Seattle crowd began heading for the exits before the whistle.
THE TRUMP CARD FAILS
All the fuss, and here’s the bottom line: the man in the middle of the storm barely got his boots on.
Balogun’s suspension was dramatically overturned after his red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the political uproar over it reached the White House. This was to be his stage.
Instead, the Belgian press swallowed him whole.
The The 25-year-old spent the night chasing shadowsstarved of time and space as the visitors dominated possession and pushed the home side back. His only moment of importance came when he won the free kick that led to Tillman’s equalizer and that was it. One flash, then nothing.
The gap between the pre-match hype and the actual match couldn’t be bigger. Folarin Balogun failed to impress against Belgium. (Image: Reuters)
Belgium, for all the talk of their golden generation aging, looked like real title contenders: young, bright, poised and smart enough for Garcia to rest three superstars and still win by three goals.
It’s a brutal way for the United States to walk away from the World Cup they hosted on a night they spent weeks building up to. Pochettino’s side were second almost everywhere, individual mistakes piled up on top of tactical ones and the limping off of injured captain Christian Pulisic in the second half was just the final indignity.
In the end, Belgium didn’t have to say a word BalogunTrump or noise. They were just playing. And they played so well that until the final whistle nobody was talking about anything but the score and the thrilling quarter-final with Spain yet to come.
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– The end
Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
07 Jul 2026 08:50 IST