2026 World Cup: Team USA earns Round of 16 game vs. Belgium in Seattle

The matchup most fans in the Pacific Northwest hoped would come to fruition during the FIFA Men’s World Cup is coming to pass.

The United States is coming back to Seattle and with it comes the chance at reaching the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in 24 years.

The U.S. will face Belgium in the final World Cup match to be played in Seattle next Monday night at Seattle Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. PT.

The Americans earned a return trip to Seattle after beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 on Wednesday night in Santa Clara, California. It’s the first time the U.S. has won a knockout round match since 2002 when the Americans beat Mexico 2-0 in the round of 16 before losing to Germany in the quarterfinals.

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The U.S. survived the final 30 minutes of the match with only 10-men after Folarin Balogun was shown a red card in the 64^th minute. Balogun was responsible for the first goal for the U.S. just before halftime, but will be suspended for the match against Belgium, taking away the leading goal scorer for the U.S. during the tournament.

Malik Tillman gave the U.S. cushion with a goal off a free kick in the 82^nd minute.

The red card to Balogun was a disputed decision that was instigated by the video assistant referee — VAR — overseeing the match. It was also not the first time VAR helped determine the outcome of a match on Wednesday.

Just a couple hours earlier, a video review in Seattle led to a penalty kick goal for Belgium’s Youri Tielemans in the 125^th minute that gave the Belgians a 3-2 comeback victory over Senegal. Belgium was down 2-0 late into the second half but scored two goals in less than three minutes in the 86^th and 89^th minutes to force extra time.

But the penalty to Tielemans was only awarded after a lengthy video review. The winning goal made Belgium just the second time in the last 11 World Cups to rally to win a knockout stage match after trailing by two goals or more in the second half.

The other team to do it was also Belgium in the 2018 tournament in a 3-2 win over Japan.

The matchup between the U.S. and Belgium in the round of 16 is a repeat of the 2014 tournament in Brazil when the teams clashed in the same round of the tournament. Belgium won 2-1 in extra time with all three goals scored after the 90-minute mark. The U.S. had chances to win before the end of the 90 minutes, and goalkeeper Tim Howard set a World Cup single-match record with 16 saves.

Curacao’s Eloy Room made 15 saves in a 90-minute match earlier in this tournament against Ecuador, the most in a match that didn’t go to extra time.