Belgium crushes USA and secures World Cup quarter-final against Spain

Belgium secured a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals with a convincing 4-1 victory over co-hosts the United States. Midfielder Charles De Ketelaere was the star of the match, netting two goals and setting up another, before Romelu Lukaku sealed the win with a goal in stoppage time. Belgium will now face European champions Spain in the next round.

The match, played in front of a capacity crowd of 72,000 in Seattle, saw an energetic Belgian side take an early lead. After just eight minutes, Nicolas Raskin set up De Ketelaere for the opening goal. The US equalized in the 31st minute with a deflected free-kick from Malik Tillman, but Belgium quickly regained the advantage. De Ketelaere scored his second goal just two minutes later, heading home from a Leandro Trossard cross.

The American hosts struggled to create significant chances against a dominant Belgian team. Despite Folarin Balogun, who had been the subject of a suspension controversy, being on the field, he failed to trouble the Belgian defense. Balogun had initially received a red card in the previous match against Bosnia-Herzegovina but was cleared to play by FIFA, a decision that has drawn considerable criticism from football officials.

Belgium extended their lead in the second half after a costly error by US goalkeeper Matt Freese. De Ketelaere capitalized on Freese's misjudged clearance outside the penalty area, passing to Hans Vanaken who scored into an empty net. In added time, Lukaku exploited another US mistake to score Belgium's fourth goal. With the US's defeat, all three World Cup hosts, the USA, Mexico, and Canada, have now been eliminated from the tournament.