The United States men are headed back to Seattle Stadium with a quarterfinal berth on the line, and the setting could hardly be bigger. Lumen Field - or “Seattle Stadium,” for now - will host one of the most important World Cup matches the Americans have played.
Their place in this round was earned the hard way. Even after Folarin Balogun was shown a very controversial and harsh-looking red card, the U.S. did not blink against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Balogun had already put the Americans in front, and Malik Tillman added a free kick that turned Levi’s Stadium Lumen Field South San Francisco Bay Area stadium into a frenzy on the way to a 2-0 win.
That result sends the U.S. into the knockout stage with its first World Cup knockout win since 2002, the last time the team reached the quarterfinals. The Americans’ best finish at a World Cup remains the inaugural 1930 tournament, when only 13 teams were in the field.
Belgium awaits next, and it arrives after a wild one of its own. The Belgians were down 2-0 to Senegal before rallying for a 3-2 extra-time win in Seattle just hours before the U.S. took the field. Belgium is not as formidable as the side that knocked the Americans out in 2014 and later finished third in 2018, but it is still the toughest opponent the U.S. has seen in this tournament.
The Balogun dismissal makes the matchup even trickier, because he will be suspended. That’s a major hit for a team that leans on him as its leading scorer.
USA vs. Belgium will close out the Seattle portion of the tournament, and the crowd figure to be even louder than it was for the Americans’ 2-0 group-stage win over Australia. Seattle Stadium was full that day, with plenty of Seahawks royalty in the building, and Monday, July 6 should bring another heavy Seahawks turnout - including plenty of fans ready to trade the 12 flag for the American flag.
One more wrinkle: the U.S. has played every match so far in NFC West stadiums, and a quarterfinal would be in Inglewood, home of the Los Angeles Rams and site of next year’s Seahawks Super Bowl victory.
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