The U.S. men’s national team walked into their Round of 16 matchup against Belgium expecting a battle. They got one from the opening whistle. Maybe before the opening whistle fully faded.
Belgium didn’t waste time testing American goalkeeper Matt Freese. Timothy Castagne had a golden look just 40 seconds in, but Freese stoned him with what might be the best save of his World Cup campaign so far. Leandro Trossard and Youri Tielemans both took their shots inside the first minute. Both missed the frame. It felt like a warning the USMNT couldn’t afford to ignore.
They ignored it anyway.
Charles De Ketelaere made them pay in the ninth minute. Nicholas Raskin slipped a pass behind the U.S. back line, and De Ketelaere did the rest. Just pushed the ball past Freese and into the net. 1-0 Belgium. And honestly, it could have been worse by then.
Early pressure, no answer
The U.S. spent most of the first 10 minutes pinned in their own end. They couldn’t string together passes. Couldn’t clear the ball with any purpose. Belgium kept coming in waves, and every time the Americans thought they had a breather, another red shirt showed up with a chance.
De Ketelaere actually had a look in the second minute too. That one got cleared. But the pattern was already set. Belgium’s midfield was winning every 50-50 ball. Their fullbacks were pushing high. And the U.S. front line had zero service to work with.
What comes next for the USMNT
This is still early. A one-goal deficit in a World Cup knockout game is not a death sentence. But the USMNT needs to find some kind of foothold in the midfield, and fast. If they keep letting Belgium dictate the tempo like this, 1-0 could become 2-0 before halftime.
Gregg Berhalter’s side hasn’t shown much composure under pressure yet. The question is whether they can flip that switch before this game slips away entirely. We’ll see how they respond coming out of the early stages. This one’s far from over, but the margin for error just got a whole lot smaller.
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