Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n
De Ketelaere gave Belgium the lead in the ninth minute with a simple tap-in before Hans Vanaken punished a goalkeeping howler, and substitute Romelu Lukaku added a fourth to settle a last-16 clash on Monday.<\/p>\n
Once Lukaku put the result beyond doubt, he was joined by his teammates in a celebratory dance that looked all too familiar for the global audience. Social media users were quick to link it back to President Trump\u2019s signature dance move.<\/p>\n
Balogun, who was named in USA coach Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s starting lineup after FIFA suspended a one-game ban, was largely anonymous throughout Monday\u2019s knockout tie at Seattle.<\/p>\n
Instead, a rampant Belgium ruthlessly dismantled the USA\u2019s hopes of reaching a first World Cup quarterfinal in 24 years, in a bitterly disappointing end to a campaign that had captivated the host nation.<\/p>\n
Criticism of FIFA<\/a> and solidarity with Belgium had already poured in before Monday\u2019s match, but the USA\u2019s disappointing performance produced a new wave of jeers while the game was still ongoing.<\/p>\n The Belgian Red Devils shared a cheeky post captioned \u201cOverturn this\u201d minutes after the match ended, besides snubbing the USA for calling the game \u201csoccer\u201d rather than football.<\/p>\n Social media users pinballed the USA\u2019s poor performance from every angle; some joked that it was the first time the team was playing a match, while others said it was more embarrassing than the previous 48 hours had been. Balogun put in a non-starter performance that saw him subbed off in the 92nd minute.<\/p>\n It was sarcasm for the most part \u2013 or, perhaps not \u2013 when social media users cautioned that Trump could overturn Belgium\u2019s 4-1 win if he felt like it.<\/p>\n \u2018FIFA mafia\u2019<\/p>\n FIFA President Gianni Infantino was in attendance for the match, watching from a suite with Pascale Van Damme, chair of the Belgian Football Association, and Cindy Parlow Cone, president of the USSF.<\/p>\n Belgium fans chanted \u201cFIFA Mafia\u201d during their pre-game march to Lumen Field.<\/p>\n People were quick to point out that when the Iranian team needed US visas<\/a>, or when Somali referee Omar Artan was denied a US visa<\/a>, or when Haiti was forced to change its jersey<\/a> last minute over war imagery, Infantino shrugged his shoulders and absolved himself of any power to remedy crucial matters.<\/p>\n \u201cWe try always to find solutions \u2013 always,\u201d Infantino had said at a news conference on the tournament\u2019s eve.<\/p>\n \u201cBut then we need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces and I don\u2019t know what. We are a sports organisation; we try to do our best with the means that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n He fanned the flames at the news conference by adding: \u201cWe don\u2019t control everything. Maybe it\u2019s good to just chill, relax.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s own niece, Mary Lea Trump \u2013 who has sued him over personal disputes and is one of his most vociferous critics \u2013 called out his interference in the matter.<\/p>\n \u201cHe casts a shadow over everything. He can only win if he cheats, and he thinks that applies to everybody else. Sad,\u201d she wrote on X.<\/p>\n \u2018Do our talking on the pitch\u2019<\/p>\n Belgium captain Youri Tielemans said the furore over Balogun had motivated his teammates.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s be honest: We held a meeting when we heard the news,\u201d Tielemans said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe told ourselves we needed to do our talking on the pitch. That\u2019s what we did today. I\u2019m very proud of the team,\u201d the Aston Villa midfielder told Belgium\u2019s RTBF broadcaster.<\/p>\n Belgium midfielder Nicolas Raskin said his side\u2019s win felt like a measure of justice after FIFA\u2019s decision on Balogun.<\/p>\n \u201cLike I said, I think there is always a justice somewhere in life, and the fact that something can happen like that, you can put it all you want, but we don\u2019t think that was fair,\u201d Raskin told reporters.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd today, I think it just brings us a little bit of luck. We needed to win the game and the message throughout.\u201d<\/p>\n Belgium coach Rudi Garcia, however, played down the dispute in his post-match news conference when asked if it had spurred his players.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, it wasn\u2019t needed or necessary \u2026 What really mattered to us is our game plan,\u201d he said, adding that he had spoken with Balogun after the final whistle.<\/p>\n \u201cHe came to talk to me, I really like that,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not his fault, he\u2019s not the one to blame and that\u2019s what I told him.\u201d<\/p>\n Belgium will face Spain in Los Angeles on Friday for a place in the semifinals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From a challenge to \u201coverturn\u201d the result to a celebration that looked quite similar to the host team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27077,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,499,1857,1865,3206],"class_list":["post-27076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-belgium","tag-football","tag-sport","tag-us-canada","tag-world-cup-2026"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116877235731724346","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27076","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=27076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Soccer](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/reuters_6a4c76ff-1783396095.jpg\")
Belgium players celebrate after the match as Belgium qualify for the quarterfinals of the World Cup at Seattle Stadium, Washington, US on July 6, 2026 [Agustin Marcarian\/Reuters]<\/p>\n