The USA came into this Round of 16 match with everything that was supposed to make this time different: a lineup stacked with players holding down key roles at Europe's biggest clubs, a name-brand coach in Mauricio Pochettino, and home advantage in front of a sold-out Lumen Field. None of it mattered. Belgium, ranked ninth in the world, were the better side from the opening whistle and needed only nine minutes to prove it — Charles De Ketelaere converting to make it 1-0.
The USA's response was one of the night's few genuine bright spots. Malik Tillman, scoring from a free kick for the second straight match, saw his effort deflect past Thibaut Courtois to level it at 1-1. It lasted barely a minute. De Ketelaere headed in his second of the match to restore Belgium's lead, and by half-time the gap between the sides was already unmistakable — visible enough that Pochettino was seen kicking a row of Powerade bottles down the touchline in frustration.
The third goal, seven minutes into the second half, was the cruelest of the night for the home crowd. Goalkeeper Matt Freese slipped up while playing the ball outside his own penalty area, leaving his goal completely unguarded, and Hans Vanaken simply rolled the ball in from distance. 3-1. Romelu Lukaku added a stoppage-time fourth to make the final score a lopsided 4-1 and end any lingering hope of a USA comeback that, in truth, had evaporated by half-time.
The match had been shadowed by controversy before a ball was even kicked. Striker Folarin Balogun, the USA's leading scorer at this World Cup, had received a red card in the Round of 32 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina and was due an automatic one-match suspension. A day before kickoff, a FIFA disciplinary panel took the unusual step of delaying that suspension by a year, allowing Balogun to play — a decision that came after reports that President Trump had personally called FIFA president Gianni Infantino regarding the red card. The Royal Belgian Football Association said it would protest Balogun's inclusion in the lineup. In the end, it made no difference to the result: even at full strength, the USA were never competitive. Pochettino was blunt afterward: "Today we didn't show our real quality... From the beginning, we didn't connect with the game." Belgium advance to the quarterfinal against Spain in Los Angeles — their third appearance at this stage in the last four World Cups.
Two goals — one inside 9 minutes, the other barely a minute after the USA had leveled it — that set the entire tone of the match. De Ketelaere's night effectively decided the tie before it was even half over.