WATCH: Folarin Balogun's return fails to make the difference as Belgium thrash the USA

Belgium dumped the United States out of their own World Cup on Tuesday, as Charles De Ketelaere's brace secured a 4-1 win, overshadowed by the bitter row over USA striker Folarin Balogun's ban.

Victory means the Belgians face Spain in the quarter-finals, while the US follow co-hosts Canada and Mexico out of the tournament with elimination in the Round of 16 after a thoroughly flat performance.

All pre-game attention had been on Balogun's place in the USA starting lineup after US President Donald Trump asked FIFA to review the striker's one-game suspension for a red card, and the governing body controversially obliged.

But Belgium's starting 11 had a few surprises of its own, with Kevin De Bruyne and Jérémy Doku among the heavyweights benched. And coach Rudi Garcia's gambit proved inspired, with De Ketelaere grabbing an early goal to puncture the feel-good vibes in Seattle.

Malik Tillman grabbed one back from a free kick, but De Ketelaere swiftly restored Belgium's lead. A catastrophic piece of goalkeeping by Matt Freese and a late Romelu Lukaku goal left the Americans dead and buried.

FIFA's move to suspend Balogun's ban after he was sent off in the previous round against Bosnia and Herzegovina has been slammed by football fans, pundits and players around the world, but there were no such misgivings among the Seattle crowd.

A colossal roar greeted the stadium announcement of Balogun's name in the starting 11, vastly dwarfing the cheers even for US talisman Christian Pulisic.

The "USA" thunderclap then echoed around the stadium, utterly drowning out a small corner of chanting Belgium fans in the opening minutes.

But the US party was swiftly silenced. The majority of 67,000 fans fell silent in the ninth minute as De Ketelaere scored, easily tapping home from close range after Nicolas Raskin's cross evaded some lax defending.

It was the first time USA had conceded the opener in this World Cup. With the atmosphere deflated, no immediate fightback was visible on the pitch either. The midfield was outgunned, and the defence looked nervous.

On the half-hour mark, Balogun drew a foul on the edge of the area and whipped the crowd back to life. He waved his arms frantically as Malik Tillman — fresh from scoring a free kick against Bosnia — lined up the ball.

Tillman's shot deflected off the Belgian wall and spun into the net, and the stadium shook.

But the joy was again short-lived. In the 33rd minute, De Ketelaere leapt up to meet Leandro Trossard's cross and comfortably out-jumped an off-balance Tim Ream to score his second.

USA inched back into the game as the first half closed out, with Balogun blasting over from a long Tillman throw, then narrowly failing to catch a long ball, again from the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder.

USA coach Mauricio Pochettino switched formation at half-time, sending Gio Reyna into the number 10 role and pushing Weston McKennie out to the right. The US team resumed play with more intensity, pushing higher up the pitch.

But self-inflicted disaster struck in the 57th minute. Freese came out to collect a Belgium long ball, turned to evade the charging De Ketelaere, but then hesitated with his pass.

De Ketelaere jabbed the ball to Hans Vanaken, who made no mistake with an open goal from long range.

Pulisic limped off with an injury minutes later, and with him went the US dreams of reaching a first World Cup quarter-final since 2002.

His replacement, Sebastian Berhalter, flashed an ambitious shot narrowly wide in the 79th minute, and Balogun had a close-range effort saved soon after.

But Chris Richards handed the ball to Lukaku in stoppage time, and the veteran striker did not hesitate to seal the rout.

Ronaldo's last dance

Substitute Mikel Merino scored a late winner to put Spain in the quarter-finals with a 1-0 victory over Portugal and end Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup career on Tuesday.

The European champions will face Belgium on Saturday in Los Angeles.

In front of an expectant crowd of 70,649 at the air-conditioned Dallas Stadium in Arlington, a match that promised so much on paper mostly failed to deliver.

Extra time looked certain before fellow substitute Ferran Torres slipped in Merino to settle the contest in the first minute of injury time.

It meant a sour final World Cup match for the 41-year-old Ronaldo, now playing in Saudi Arabia, having confirmed on the eve of the encounter that this would be his last dance on football's biggest stage.

The neighbours came into the contest both unbeaten, but while Portugal had not been entirely convincing, Spain had not even conceded a goal in the tournament.

One of the pre-tournament favourites, they still haven't.

For all their pedigree, talent and history, Spain have only lifted the World Cup once, in 2010, while Portugal's best was third place in 1966.

In Ronaldo and Spain's 18-year-old Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal, the last-16 showdown was touted as a showcase of two extraordinary talents at opposite ends of their careers.

Spain should have been ahead with less than 10 minutes gone when Dani Olmo played in Mikel Oyarzabal but with only goalkeeper Diogo Costa to beat, he somehow pulled it well wide.

Portugal skipper Ronaldo had his first chance to add to his three goals in North America, stinging the palms of goalkeeper Unai Simón from a tight angle.

Luis de la Fuente's Spain cranked up the pressure, Yamal and Álex Baena testing Costa twice in quick succession, the second a wonderful fingertip save.

Ronaldo — jeered and cheered in equal measure — was a marginal presence in the central attacking role he now occupies in the twilight of his career.

Portugal ended the half on top, and Roberto Martínez's side were inches from taking the lead when Spain full-back Pedro Porro stuck out his head and directed a Nuno Mendes shot onto his own crossbar.

The winger Yamal had endured a frustrating time up against Mendes, but the Paris Saint-Germain fullback was forced off injured after 56 minutes in a blow to Portugal.

The game needed a spark and Ronaldo, well known to Spain from his time at Real Madrid, threw up his arms when a pass went astray.

Martinez made double changes on 71 and 83 minutes, but kept Ronaldo on.

And in a game that was cagey, Arsenal midfielder Merino won it at the death with a composed finish that was out of keeping with much of what went on before.

You can watch all 104 matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ live, free and exclusive on SBS, SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.

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