{"id":26650,"date":"2026-07-06T12:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T12:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/26650\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T12:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T12:12:13","slug":"usa-vs-belgium-world-cup-last-16-trump-balogun-prediction-start-time-world-cup-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/26650\/","title":{"rendered":"USA vs Belgium: World Cup last 16: Trump, Balogun, prediction, start time | World Cup 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four wins to go. How can your team reach the final and win the 2026 World Cup? Click\u00a0here<\/a> to find out.<\/p>\n

Who: USA vs Belgium
What:\u00a0FIFA World Cup 2026<\/a> \u2013 Round of 16
Where: Seattle Stadium, Seattle, USA
When: Monday, July 6, at 7pm (00:00 GMT on Tuesday)
How to follow:\u00a0We will have all the build-up on\u00a0Al Jazeera Sport<\/a> from 20:30 GMT before our live text commentary stream.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

Even before a ball is kicked, the dirty game is underway \u2013 and it\u2019s the United States that has the advantage; an unfair one, some might argue.<\/p>\n

Less than 48 hours before their last-16 tie against Belgium, President Donald Trump personally urged<\/a> FIFA and its chief, Gianni Infantino, to review a case pertaining to the American team, according to multiple reports.<\/p>\n

It was about a red card handed out to their in-form striker, Folarin Balogun, in the last game. Normally, such a booking leads to at least a one-game suspension, but the USA team is alleged to have used its \u201cTrump\u201d card, and just like that, FIFA made the unprecedented decision to suspend Balogun\u2019s automatic red-card ban<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The highly controversial call to clear Balogun to play in Monday\u2019s decisive World Cup knockout tie left many wondering about the increasing influence of politics in football, while it also thrust FIFA\u2019s disciplinary process into the global spotlight, albeit for the wrong reasons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Whether that decision works against Belgium remains to be seen, but after days of lobbying, the pressure is now firmly on the Americans \u2013 the last remaining World Cup cohost \u2013 to step up in Seattle and chase a first quarterfinals berth in more than two decades.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera tells you everything about the USA vs Belgium:<\/p>\n

How did the USA and Belgium reach the round of 16?<\/p>\n

The USA topped Group D with six points, beating Paraguay and Australia before losing to Turkiye. They began their knockout run with a 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32.<\/p>\n

Belgium topped Group G with five points, drawing with Egypt and Iran before beating New Zealand. In the last 32 tie, they beat Senegal 3-2 in extra time.<\/p>\n

\"(COMBO)USA forward Folarin Balogun, left, and Belgium\u2019s Leandro Trossard \u2013 the respective top scorers of their teams \u2013 will be pitted against each other in the World Cup last 16 [Frederic J Brown and Alex Grimm\/AFP]Balogun\u2019s red card suspension raises questions about integrity<\/p>\n

Until Sunday, the focus of the game was purely about the football: cohosts USA carrying the weight of rising expectations in a promising tournament, and an experienced Belgium side, which has been far from convincing.<\/p>\n

But the high-stakes clash took a political turn when a personal intervention from Trump prompted a last-minute U-turn from FIFA. Balogun,\u00a0 who was sent off for planting his boot into the ankle of Bosnia\u2019s Tarik Muharemovic, had his one-match ban suspended, opening the door for him to start against Belgium in the knockout tie.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn line with article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the implementation of the match suspension is suspended for a probationary period of one year,\u201d \u200cFIFA said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Whether FIFA had upheld justice or undermined its own rules is up for debate, but what\u2019s more evident is that the decision has become the biggest talking point of the tournament, with two weeks to go until the final.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think 99.9% of people in football have said this is an unfair punishment and there\u2019s evidence from the past that makes it possible to suspend a punishment and \u2060to fulfil it later on, so I don\u2019t understand how people can be surprised,\u201d USA coach Mauricio Pochettino told reporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has happened in the past. It\u2019s not something extraordinary that has only happened \u2060for us\u2026 And we\u2019ve seen many players in this World Cup that were not punished and I\u2019m happy for this because it would have been unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belgium coach Rudi Garcia, understandably, had a totally different opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know that in the offices of FIFA, the fifth of July was the first of April in Europe,\u201d Garcia said through a translator in an April Fools\u2019 Day comparison.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Belgian federation does not defend itself; it does not protect the national team. She defends football in general, she defends her integrity, her ethics. I think it\u2019s the first time in the history of the World Cup that there is this kind of decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FILEUnited States President Donald Trump holds up a red card as he meets with FIFA President Gianni Infantino in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, US on August 28, 2018 [File: Leah Millis\/Reuters]USA vs Belgium prediction<\/p>\n

The Opta supercomputer calculation is as close as it comes to a \u2018split\u2019 decision on the winner: the USA has a 37.2 percent likelihood of victory in regulation time, while Belgium is at 36.5 percent.<\/p>\n

The model estimates a 26.3\u00a0percent probability of the game going to extra time and potentially penalties.<\/p>\n

The USA has not reached the World Cup quarterfinals since 2002, while Belgium haven\u2019t progressed that far since finishing third in 2018.<\/p>\n

USA vs Belgium: Kickoff time, TV schedule
\nUSA: FOX, FOX One, Telemundo App, Telemundo Network, Peacock (8pm, Eastern Daylight Time)
\nBelgium: Auvio, La Une, VRT1, VRT Max, Sporza (2am on Tuesday, Central European Summer Time)
\nUnited Kingdom: BBC One, BBC iPlayer (1am on Tuesday, British Summer Time)<\/p>\n

To check the TV listings for your country, head to FIFA\u2019s TV listing schedule\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"FansUS fans have not seen their team in the World Cup quarterfinals since 2002 ([Matt McNulty \u2013 FIFA\/FIFA via Getty Images]Who will the winner face in the quarterfinals?<\/p>\n

The winner of the USA vs Belgium match will face either Portugal or Spain<\/a> in the quarterfinals in Los Angeles on Friday, July 10.<\/p>\n

USA vs Belgium: Head-to-head<\/p>\n

After beating Belgium 3-0 at the 1930 World Cup, the USA have since lost each of the last six meetings.<\/p>\n

In their most recent meeting in a friendly in March, Belgium thrashed the USA 5-2.<\/p>\n

USA vs Belgium: Team news<\/p>\n

USA\u2019s Cristian Roldan is doubtful with a muscle injury.<\/p>\n

No injuries reported in the Belgium camp.<\/p>\n

USA\u2019s predicted lineup<\/p>\n

(4-3-3): Freese (goalkeeper); Freeman, Richards, Ream, Robinson; McKennie, Adams, Tillman; Dest, Balogun, Pulisic<\/p>\n

Belgium\u2019s predicted lineup<\/p>\n

(4-2-3-1): Courtois (goalkeeper); Castagne, Michele, Theate, De Cuyper; Tielemans, Vanaken; Trossard, De Bruyne, Doku; Lukaku<\/p>\n

\"Belgium'sRomelu Lukaku is Belgium\u2019s joint top scorer at the tournament with two goals [Albert Gea\/Reuters]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four wins to go. How can your team reach the final and win the 2026 World Cup? Click\u00a0here…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,69,499,144,1857,87,1865,3206],"class_list":["post-26650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-belgium","tag-europe","tag-football","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-world-cup-2026"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116872973230106410","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}