{"id":27306,"date":"2026-07-08T01:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T01:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/27306\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T01:52:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T01:52:15","slug":"belgium-gets-justice-with-4-1-win-over-us-to-reach-world-cup-quarterfinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/27306\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgium gets \u2018justice\u2019 with 4-1 win over US to reach World Cup quarterfinals"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEATTLE (AP) \u2014 Shortly after Romelu Lukaku<\/a> scored the goal that capped a commanding 4-1 win over the United States<\/a>, Belgium\u2019s all-time leading goal scorer held his right hand to his ear.<\/p>\n

On American soil, and in the aftermath of star U.S. forward Folarin Balogun being permitted to play after a one-game red-card suspension was controversially lifted by FIFA<\/a>, Lukaku egged on the crowd of 66,925 at Lumen Field. The Red Devils then took to social media to poke more fun<\/a> in light of what they considered no laughing matter, posting above the photo the words: \u201cOverturn this.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Belgium\u2019s locker room at Lumen Field, players mocked Trump by imitating his dance<\/a>, the gestures he makes swaying his hips and slowly punching air.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always a justice somewhere in life,\u201d Belgian midfielder Nicolas Raskin said. \u201cThe fact that something happened like that, we don\u2019t think that was fair. And today, I think it just brings us a little bit of (motivation) that we needed to win the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Belgian soccer federation wanted an explanation from FIFA<\/a> about the decision to let Balogun play. Many of Belgium\u2019s players, though, insisted they didn\u2019t need any additional motivation for Monday\u2019s match. <\/p>\n

Belgium extended its unbeaten streak to 18 games, and knocked out the U.S. in the round of 16 for the second time in 12 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

American players including defender Alex Freeman entered the evening wanting revenge for 2014, and for a 5-2 blowout loss in a World Cup warmup match in March<\/a>. Belgium captain Youri Tielemans and company had other ideas, and collectively turned in a clinical performance. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe put in a lot of intensity, there was quality too,\u201d Tielemans said. \u201cDefensively, we were really compact. We tried to put them under pressure and it really worked out for us. We scored at the right moments, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Lukaku put the finishing touches on the win, it was not Belgium\u2019s so-called \u201cGolden Generation\u201d that propelled the side to victory. J\u00e9r\u00e9my Doku didn\u2019t start for the Red Devils, and Kevin De Bruyne never came off the bench. <\/p>\n

Rather than Lukaku or De Bruyne, the two most accomplished scorers in Belgian national team history, it was Charles De Ketelaere who tallied a brace. De Ketelaere considered the showing his greatest yet for the Red Devils, whose four goals were the most the U.S. had allowed in a World Cup game since a 5-1 loss to Czechoslovakia in 1990. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great feeling to put out this performance in this game and to go through,\u201d De Ketelaere said. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing for the team and for the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hans Vanaken also scored for Belgium, which went quite close to not advancing to the round of 16 in the first place. To even play the U.S. required a dramatic comeback from a two-goal deficit to beat Senegal in the round of 32<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Red Devils were shaky at the beginning of the tournament, settling for draws against Iran and Egypt. If not for a dominant 5-1 win over New Zealand<\/a>, Belgium may have failed to get out of the group stage, just as it came up short four years ago in Qatar. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think we could (have done) much better in the group phase,\u201d midfielder Dodi Luk\u00e9bakio said. \u201cBut, we grew. Today, we are showing that we have more confidence. And with the results, it helps us a lot. And, we are showing our quality, definitely.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Red Devils next play 2010 champion Spain<\/a> on Friday at Inglewood, California, for a semifinal berth against France or Morocco. <\/p>\n

They will do so without midfielder Amadou Onana, after the team confirmed he tore his right ACL<\/a> while marking U.S. forward Christian Pulisic in the 19th minute. Vanaken replaced Onana in the 21st minute. <\/p>\n

Lukaku held up Onana\u2019s jersey after the final whistle.<\/p>\n

Aside from Onana\u2019s injury, which Garcia referred to as a \u201cdark cloud\u201d that hung over the team, it was Belgium\u2019s night. Considering the build-up to the game, which included President Donald Trump calling FIFA president Gianni Infantino seeking a review of Balogun\u2019s red card<\/a>, it made the victory that much sweeter. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur job was to show on the pitch that we are here for football,\u201d Tielemans said. \u201cThat decision was out of our hands, and we just had to talk on the field. And, we did that today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veteran goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois apparently wasn\u2019t upset by the pre-match drama.<\/p>\n

\u201cI read things and I laughed,\u201d he said. \u201cI was more sure of beating the USA than Senegal, because Senegal is a better soccer team than the United States\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEATTLE (AP) \u2014 Shortly after Romelu Lukaku scored the goal that capped a commanding 4-1 win over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[4568,5463,7,4988,5403,4561,381,5731,3933,4559,4737,5416,2196,3216,5417,5400,3934,1176,3721,7906,2031,5404],"class_list":["post-27306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-alex-freeman","tag-amadou-mvom-onana","tag-belgium","tag-belgium-national-soccer-team","tag-charles-de-ketelaere","tag-christian-pulisic","tag-donald-trump","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-folarin-balogun","tag-gianni-infantino","tag-hans-vanaken","tag-kevin-de-bruyne","tag-manchester-united-fc","tag-nicolas-raskin","tag-romelu-lukaku","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-thibaut-courtois","tag-wa-state-wire","tag-washington","tag-youri-tielemans"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116881859694818961","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27306","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=27306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}