USA exit World Cup after heavy last-16 defeat to Belgium

The United States are out of the World Cup after a 4-1 last-16 defeat to Belgium. Malik Tillman briefly brought the hosts level, but Belgium punished defensive lapses and a major goalkeeping mistake to move on.

Belgium made notable lineup calls, leaving Kevin De Bruyne and Jérémy Doku out of the starting XI while Nicolas Raskin and Dodi Lukébakio came in. The changes did not blunt their threat: Charles De Ketelaere struck first after Belgium found space behind the US defence, and the same attacking channel caused problems again before the interval.

Tillman’s equaliser, helped by Folarin Balogun winning the free-kick, gave the US a route back into the match. According to the source report, the goal also made Tillman only the second player to score twice from direct free-kicks in a single World Cup tournament, though that historical note remains one editors may want to cross-check before highlighting prominently.

The decisive moment came after half-time when Matt Freese came out to meet a long ball, failed to deal with it cleanly, and Hans Vanaken scored into an empty net. Romelu Lukaku later came off the bench and added Belgium’s fourth in stoppage time, leaving the US with another last-16 exit and plenty to review after a tournament that had promised more.