U.S. Men’s National Team to Face Belgium in Round of 16 of FIFA World Cup 2026
· Yahoo Sports
With its 2-0 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32, the U.S. Men’s National Team is through to the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup 2026 for the fourth time in as many tries. The result means the Stars and Stripes will face Belgium on Monday, July 6 at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET in Seattle, Wash. as they look to remain unbeaten at the cavernous venue.
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The win against Bosnia and Herzegovina was the second World Cup knockout stage victory in program history. Additionally, the result snapped a 12-match winless streak against European opposition.
In the group stage, the USMNT constructed a 2W-1L-0D record thanks to victories against Paraguay and Australia. The Stars and Stripes concluded the group stage with a narrow 3-2 loss against Türkiye in which a USMNT-record nine changes were made to the starting lineup from the Australia match.
The USMNT has faced the Red Devils on seven prior instances. The first meeting—the United States’ lone victory—came in the form of a 3-0 victory at the inaugural 1930 World Cup in Montevideo, Uruguay. That contest nearly 100 years ago marked the USMNT’s first-ever match at a World Cup and still stands as the joint-largest margin of victory for the Stars and Stripes at the World Cup, recently matched by the USMNT’s three-goal victory against Paraguay to open this year’s tournament.
Since then, the United States has lost six consecutive matches against Belgium, with the two most recent encounters coming in the Round of 16 of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and a pre-World Cup tune-up in Atlanta earlier this year. A win in the Round of 16 would see the United States progress to the Quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time since 2002.