Belgium beat Senegal in Seattle, will face the United States next

SEATTLE, Wash. (KATU) — After a United States win tonight against Bosnia-Herzegovina, the team will face Belgium, who defeated Senegal earlier today in Seattle.

Even with Senegal’s best team to date, Belgium won 3-2 and will face the United States’ team in the round of 16 after they beat Bosnia-Herzegovina this evening 2-0 in Santa Clara, California.

SEE ALSO | USA advances after match win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in California

Today, Belgium’s Youri Tielemans scored from the penalty spot in stoppage time of extra time, and Belgium came back from two goals down to beat Senegal 3-2 Wednesday in the round of 32 at the World Cup.

Tielemans was fouled just before the end of the 30 minutes of extra time were finished and the referee awarded the penalty after a video review.

Habib Diarra and Ismaïla Sarr gave the Senegalese a 2-0 lead, but Belgium substitute Romelu Lukaku got one back in the 86th minute and Tielemans equalized in the 89th.

Both Senegal and Belgium have history with the World Cup. Senegal’s sole knockout stage victory to date came against Sweden in 2002, 24 years ago, and Belgium finished third in 2018, but had to exit at the group stage in 2022.

Senegal was drawn into a tough Group I and lost narrowly to France and Norway before saving their World Cup campaign after beating Iraq 5-0 in its group finale.

Game disruptions

During the game, three people ran onto the Seattle Stadium field, causing a stoppage of play.

A pitch invader is held by security during the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between Belgium and Senegal in Seattle, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

The people disrupted the game in the 32nd minute. Roughly a dozen security guards were deployed to get them off the field and Belgium defender Maxim De Cuyper held onto the ball amid the incident.

At the time of the interruption, Senegal was leading Belgium 1-0 on a goal by Habib Diarra in the 25th minute. Diarra also scored in the 5-0 game against Iraq.

Know your foe

Now that the United States will face Belgium for a spot in the last eight of this World Cup, Americans may reminisce on the two team’s meeting earlier this year on March 28 where Belgium beat the United States 5-2.

Five of Belgium’s players started in that match as well as today round of 16 win against Senegal. Six American players started that match in March and against Bosnia-Herzegovina today. However, now-suspended Folarin Balogun was one of those players.

Belgium has their weaknesses, from difficulty moving the ball through the center of the pitch to isolated attackers, and The Red Devils did not dominate the beginning of today’s game against Senegal.

The team looked to be losing until the 51st minute, then rebounded by scoring goals in the 86th and 89th minutes from striker Lukaku and Tielemans.

Belgium was then awarded a penalty which was converted for the win.

They have also struggled aside from their 5-1 win over New Zealand.

Before facing New Zealand, Belgium opened group play with a 1-1 draw against Egypt and a 0-0 draw against Iran.

In addition, the team has not involved their best players like Manchester City’s Jeremy Doku and SCC Napoli’s Kevin De Bruyne in the game much thus far in the World Cup—until today.

Belgium still poses a challenge for the United States, as the last time the two met was in the 2014 World Cup round of 16 in Brazil. After zero scores and a draw through regulation, a total of three goals scored in extra time resulted in a 2-1 Belgium victory.

During that game, goalkeeper Tim Howard earned a World-Cup single-match record with 16 saves.

None of the American players on the 2014 World Cup team are present on this year’s squad. Belgium, though, had three players from that year’s team start against Senegal today: De Bruyne, Lukaku and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

USA and Belgium also met in the United States in May 2013 in Cleveland, Ohio where Belgium won 4-2.

Belgium is currently ranked ninth in the Coca-Cola FIFA Men’s World Rankings, just above Mexico. The USA is ranked 15.

Players to watch for

Winger Leandro Trossard, 31-years old, is currently Arsenal’s forward. He has started all four games for Belgium and has two goals and an assist, which came today against rival Senegal in the 89th minute.

Trossard has scored 27 goals with 24 assists across 123 games for Arsenal in the Premier League.

Midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, 35-years-old, is well-known amongst soccer fans. A Manchester City veteran, he played there from 2015 until last year and scored 108 goals with 170 assists across 422 games.

De Bruyne is done with his first season with SCC Napoli, but only played 21 games after injuries.

This World Cup, he scored one goal without an assist during Belgium’s blowout win against New Zealand. He lasted 56 minutes today against Senegal.