USA vs Belgium
Belgium dismantle USA with De Ketelaere brace
A commanding 4-1 victory sees Belgium cruise past the USA in the World Cup clash.
Belgium took control early with C. De Ketelaere opening the scoring in the 9th minute and doubling the lead before halftime. The USA briefly responded through M. Tillman, but Belgium pulled away after the break with goals from H. Vanaken and a stoppage-time finish by R. Lukaku. This emphatic 4-1 win defied Fipster's prediction of a narrow USA victory, turning expectations on their head.
Fipster’s pre-match call
Predicted
2-1 USA win
Actual
1–4
Outcome probability
Key Insights
Squad Calibre Edge
Belgium has a moderate edge with 20 players in top-5 European leagues, including K. De Bruyne (Napoli).
Home Advantage and Form
USA benefits from home advantage and strong recent form (2.25 PPG), balancing Belgium's quality.
Knockout Phase Weighting
In Round of 16, in-tournament performance and form weigh heavily, influencing the narrow USA win prediction.
Player Insights
Standout players Fipster expects to impact the match — curated highlights, not full squad lists
Home — USA
Away — Belgium
Form as the teams went into this match — excludes this result and anything since.
Team Comparison
Season shape — attack, defence, form, clean sheets & win rate
Home vs Away comparison
Goal difference in each of the last few fixtures — above the line is a net win, below is a net loss
Season comparison
Goals scored & conceded, goal difference and clean sheets across the season
Halftime Performance
What each side does once the whistle goes for half time
Streaks
Recent-form runs — each side’s most-recent game meets in the middle
Head to Head
FIFA world ranking
De Ketelaere
Assist: Raskin
Onana
Tillman
De Ketelaere
Assist: Trossard
McKennie
Yellow Card
Dest
Vanaken
Assist: De Ketelaere
Pulišić
De Ketelaere
Lukebakio
Tillman
Yellow Card
Adams
Trossard
Raskin
Robinson
Balogun
Lukaku
Assist: Vanaken
Match Statistics
USA
4-3-3Starting XI
- 2S. DestF
- 3C. RichardsD
- 4T. AdamsM
- 5A. RobinsonD
- 8W. McKennieM
- 10C. PulišićF
- 13T. ReamD
- 16A. FreemanD
- 17M. TillmanM
- 20F. BalogunF
- 24M. FreeseG
Substitutes
- 1M. TurnerG
- 6A. TrustyD
- 7G. ReynaM
- 9R. PepiF
- 11B. AaronsonM
- 12M. RobinsonD
- 14S. BerhalterM
- 18M. ArfstenM
- 19H. WrightF
- 21T. WeahF
- 22M. McKenzieD
- 23J. ScallyD
- 25C. BradyG
- 26A. ZendejasF
Belgium
4-2-3-1Starting XI
- 1T. CourtoisG
- 4B. MecheleD
- 5M. De CuyperD
- 8Y. TielemansM
- 10L. TrossardM
- 14D. LukebakioM
- 17C. De KetelaereF
- 21T. CastagneD
- 23N. RaskinM
- 24A. OnanaM
- 25N. NgoyD
Substitutes
- 2Z. DebastD
- 3A. TheateD
- 6A. WitselM
- 7K. De BruyneM
- 9R. LukakuF
- 11J. DokuF
- 12S. LammensG
- 13M. PendersG
- 15T. MeunierD
- 16K. De WinterD
- 18J. SeysD
- 19Diego MoreiraF
- 20H. VanakenM
- 22A. SaelemaekersF
- 26M. Fernandez-PardoF
USA
| Player | Pos | Min | Rating | G | A | Shots | SoT | Key Passes | Dribbles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malik Tillman | M | 91 | 7.3 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1/2 |
| Alexander Freeman | D | 91 | 7.0 | — | — | 2 | — | 1 | 2/3 |
| Tyler Adams | M | 72 | 6.9 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sergiño Dest | F | 45 | 6.7 | — | — | — | — | — | 2/3 |
| Chris Richards | D | 91 | 6.6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Matthew Freese | G | 91 | 6.3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Antonee Robinson | D | 91 | 6.3 | — | — | — | — | — | 0/1 |
| Folarin Balogun | F | 91 | 6.2 | — | — | 3 | 1 | — | — |
| Christian Pulišić | F | 59 | 6.2 | — | — | — | — | — | 2/6 |
| Weston McKennie | M | 91 | 6.0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tim Ream(C) | D | 91 | 5.6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Substitutes | |||||||||
| Brenden Aaronson | M | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Haji Wright | F | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Timothy Weah | F | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Alex Zendejas | F | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mark McKenzie | D | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Auston Trusty | D | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Joe Scally | D | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Miles Robinson | D | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Matt Turner | G | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Chris Brady | G | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Maximilian Arfsten | M | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sebastian Berhalter | M | 32 | 7.0 | — | — | 1 | — | 2 | — |
| Ricardo Pepi | F | 19 | 6.9 | — | — | — | — | — | 1/1 |
| Giovanni Reyna | M | 46 | 6.6 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 2/2 |
Belgium
| Player | Pos | Min | Rating | G | A | Shots | SoT | Key Passes | Dribbles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles De Ketelaere | F | 67 | 8.3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1/1 |
| Nicolas Raskin | M | 89 | 7.7 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0/1 |
| Leandro Trossard | M | 89 | 7.3 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 0/2 |
| Timothy Castagne | D | 91 | 6.9 | — | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0/1 |
| Maxim De Cuyper | D | 91 | 6.9 | — | — | — | — | 2 | — |
| Youri Tielemans(C) | M | 91 | 6.9 | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | — |
| Amadou Onana | M | 21 | 6.9 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dodi Lukebakio | M | 67 | 6.6 | — | — | 2 | — | — | 6/8 |
| Nathan Ngoy | D | 91 | 6.5 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0/1 |
| Brandon Mechele | D | 91 | 6.2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Thibaut Courtois | G | 91 | 6.2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Substitutes | |||||||||
| Thomas Meunier | D | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kevin De Bruyne | M | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Alexis Saelemaekers | F | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Koni De Winter | D | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Senne Lammens | G | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Arthur Theate | D | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Zeno Debast | D | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Diego Moreira | F | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Matías Fernández-Pardo | F | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mike Penders | G | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Joaquin Seys | D | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Axel Witsel | M | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hans Vanaken | M | 70 | 7.3 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 1/2 |
| Jérémy Doku | F | 24 | 6.9 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 1/2 |
| Romelu Lukaku | F | 24 | 6.5 | — | — | — | — | — | 0/1 |