Balogun starts, but USA outclassed 4-1 by Belgium, eliminated from World Cup
The 2026 World Cup party will go on without any of its three hosts, as Team USA was outclassed 4-1 by Belgium Monday night and eliminated in the Round of 16.
After 24 hours of controversy surrounding the suspension of his red card ban, Folarin Balogun was in the starting lineup for Team USA’s highly anticipated game against Belgium after FIFA dismissed a Belgian appeal over the striker’s eligibility.
Despite the full lineup and passionate patriotic crowd in Seattle, Team USA looked uncomfortable from the start, fell behind early, made sloppy mistakes and could not keep up with the Belgians, who move on to face Spain in the quarterfinals.
The U.S. has lost in the Round of 16 in each of its last four World Cups (2010, 2014, 2022, 2026) and has not reached the quarterfinals since 2002.
Monday’s game, coming off the Fourth of July weekend, was set to be a historic star-spangled party after America fell in love with this U.S. squad and its affable Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino. A record audience of 26.4 million tuned in to the previous U.S. game against Bosnia, the most watched English language soccer telecast in U.S. history.
But the U.S. fans were left deflated, and the team trudged off the field after its worst performance in this World Cup.
“Even when we scored the goal to make it 1-1, we concede a goal in the next action, was really tough from the beginning,” Pochettino said on the field after the game. “I want to congratulate Belgium. They were better than us. It wasn’t our day. Not to find excuses because we didn’t show what we normally show, and that is a reality.
“We need to learn. We need to assess the game and see why we didn’t approach the game the same way as we did the rest of the World Cup. The main person responsible is myself. That performance is not how we normally play.”
Team USA struggled from the opening minutes. The leaky defense allowed Timothy Castagne to charge into the 18-yard box, settle the ball and curl a pass across to Charles De Ketelaere, who made an easy finish to give Belgium a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute.
The Americans evened the score at the 31-minute mark on another exquisite free kick from Malik Tillman, who scored a similar goal in the previous game against Bosnia. The U.S. players and fans celebrated and were relieved to be back in the game.
But, two minutes later, De Ketelaere spoiled the party for the Stars and Stripes, and put Belgium back in front 2-1 with a header over the back of U.S. defender and captain Tim Ream. Pochettino kicked a container of water bottles in frustration.
The intensity picked up for the U.S. team in the second half, but the deficit grew to 3-1 after goalkeeper Matt Freese went far out of his area to get to a ball, but hesitated under pressure from De Ketelaere, mishit his clearance, lost the ball and Hans Vanaken gathered the loose ball and took a long shot that whizzed past a helpless Ream into the net.
Desperate to close the gap, Sebastian Berhalter brought energy off the bench and nearly scored, but his shot went wide left. Balogun also had a late scoring chance, but it was saved.
As if the 67,000 fans at Lumen Field didn’t feel deflated enough, Romelu Lukaku came off the Belgium bench and made it 4-1 in the third-minute of added time.
It was not a surprise that Belgium would challenge Team USA, as the world’s eighth-best team, per FIFA rankings, playing against the 16th ranked Americans. Belgium, which advanced to the Round of 16 with a 3-2 win over Senegal, has won six of the past seven meetings with the United States, including a 5-2 rout in a friendly in March 2026. USA’s only win over Belgium was at the 1930 World Cup.
“This US team just got punched in the nose for the first time this tournament,” FOX Sports analyst Alexi Lalas said at halftime.
Balogun, the top scorer on the U.S. team, was ejected from the Bosnia and Herzegovina Round of 32 match on July 1 with a red card after a VAR review and was initially suspended from Monday’s game.
But, after President Donald Trump and other government officials intervened and asked FIFA to review Balogan’s suspension, FIFA’s judicial body suspended the red card, placing Balogun on a one-year probation, which cleared him for the Belgium game and set off a firestorm of criticism from around the world.
The Belgian soccer federation, saying it was “astonished” at the FIFA decision, asked for a full explanation and challenged Balogun’s availability for the game. FIFA dismissed the appeal.
On Monday, Pochettino picked Balogun in his starting XI, going with the same lineup he used against Bosnia as the Americans looked to reach the quarterfinals of a World Cup for the first time since 2002.
The rest of the Starting XI for the game in Seattle was Matt Freese, Sergino Dest, Chris Richards, Tyler Adams, Antonee Robinson, Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, Tim Ream, Alex Freeman, and Malik Tillman. Gio Reyna replaced Dest at halftime.
Asked how his team handled the distractions of the Balogun red card controversy, Pochettino told FOX Sports before the game: “We were focused on our jobs and that was to prepare for the game in the best condition. Of course, to have all the players available always is good news. To be able to have Balo again with us is important for the team.”
Belgian coach Rudi Garcia left stars Jérémy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne out of his starting lineup. The two were key players in Belgium’s first four games, except for the game Doku missed when he returned home for the birth of his son.
This story was originally published July 6, 2026 at 8:27 PM.