Tag: World Cup

Storm clouds and a looming threat of rain did not stop fans of the U.S. men’s national team from packing FIFA World Cup watch parties across the area on Monday evening for America’s round of 16 match against Belgium in Seattle.

Fans clad in red, white, and blue packed the FIFA Fan Festival in Lemon Hill and Union Yards outside Subaru Park in Chester. The storms held off, but a deluge of Belgian goals led to a 4-1 loss for the U.S., disappointing much of both crowds.

The fan fest in Lemon Hill was sparsely populated after the first match of the day between Spain and Portugal, but by the time the U.S. men kicked off at 8 p.m., the crowd at the festival’s main stage stretched all the way back to the corporate activations set up in the middle of the festival.

That packed crowd was disappointed early, as forward Charles De Ketelaere gave Belgium a 1-0 lead with a strike in the ninth minute. To make matters worse for the U.S. supporters, the stage at Lemon Hill lit up red and yellow as the Belgians celebrated in Seattle.

They did red and yellow strobes at Fan Fest for Belgium’s first goal. The crowd seems less than amused

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— Owen Hewitt (@oyounothing.bsky.social) July 6, 2026 at 8:10 PM

The crowd in Lemon Hill erupted in celebration as Malik Tillman put the States back on level terms with a goal on a free kick in the 31st minute.

For a brief moment, the U.S. tied it at one-all, and Fan Fest went nuts:

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— Owen Hewitt (@oyounothing.bsky.social) July 6, 2026 at 8:47 PM

Meanwhile, in Chester, fans with toy trumpets complemented the cheers.

But the celebration didn’t last long, as De Ketelaere reclaimed the lead just two minutes later. It was all Belgium from there, as it added to its lead in the 57th minute, leaving both crowds in shock.

Fan Fest can’t believe what Matt Freese just did either:

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— Owen Hewitt (@oyounothing.bsky.social) July 6, 2026 at 9:27 PM

Romelu Lukaku added a fourth to seal the win for Belgium in the 93rd minute, and as U.S. fans headed for the exits in Lemon Hill, a small group of Belgian supporters celebrated their country’s win at the center of the festival.

The Belgians here at Fan Fest are loving it:

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— Owen Hewitt (@oyounothing.bsky.social) July 6, 2026 at 10:03 PM

One of the few Belgians on hand for the match was Bertrand Colla, who traveled to Philadelphia from his home country to visit family and watch France’s win over Paraguay on Saturday at Philadelphia Stadium.

While Belgium’s close win over Senegal in the round of 32 worried him, he had renewed confidence in his team after its 4-1 thrashing of the U.S.

“I didn’t expect it at all,” Colla said. “This game proves it all. We’re going to go there.”

U.S. fans, meanwhile, were let down after a second consecutive exit in the round of 16 by the U.S. men at the World Cup.

“It’s disappointing. They looked like they didn’t have it from the beginning,” U.S. fan J.P. Hochschwender said as he left Union Yards. “They looked slow. The defense looked a little disorganized, and, ultimately, [Belgium] just capitalized on the opportunities they got, but I had a bad feeling from the get-go.”

Lasting effects

Like the FIFA Fan Festival, the Union’s watch party in Chester was free to enter. Team chief revenue officer Charlie Slonaker hopes the event and the area’s World Cup-powered soccer fever will drive more Philadelphians to their MLS team once the tournament is over.

“Soccer is the world’s game, it’s a beautiful game, and there’s no bigger event than the World Cup,” Slonaker said. “We’re excited to hopefully capture that, capture that fan excitement and enthusiasm by [having them] come down to these soccer celebrations.

“We hope they fall in love with the game, as so many of us have, and over the long term, they ultimately want to come out to Subaru Park to watch Philadelphia Union games.”

The Union looked to take advantage of the World Cup’s draw quickly after North America was awarded the tournament in 2018. Once FIFA approved MLS franchises hosting watch parties, Slonaker’s team sprung into action to gather partners for events. On Monday, that included food trucks Mister Softee, Dos Hermanos Taqueria, and Humpty’s Dumplings as well as Michelob Ultra.

Outside of watching the game — one many U.S. fans will want to forget — the area offered plenty to do for a family-heavy crowd. Before and during the game, kids played soccer scrimmages alongside a plethora of lawn games. Unlike the festivities in Lemon Hill, which drew many young adults, the Union looked to engage the next generation of soccer fans.

Slonaker is not the only one hoping the buzz around soccer is here to stay in Philadelphia. Some of the Union’s longtime fans are hoping they will have reinforcements in the stands when the team’s season resumes at the end of the month.

“You see all the international fans mixing with the local fans, and it’s heartwarming,” said Shane Wittkop, a member of Union supporters group Doopin Delinquents. “I hope we have more Union supporters out of this.”

SEATTLE — The game the U.S. men’s soccer team dreamed of for so many years proved to be a nightmare.

Belgium blew the Americans off the field, 4-1, in the round of 16, as Charles de Ketelaere scored two goals and created the third. Malik Tillman scored the Americans’ game-tying goal in the first half, but it was all they could muster in a game in which they were outshot, 15-7, including 7-2 on target.

Perhaps it wasn’t surprising that the Red Devils were up for the contest, motivated by a perception that FIFA and President Donald Trump had tilted the scales against them. Nor was it surprising that Folarin Balogun started for the U.S. after FIFA dismissed Belgium’s last shot at an appeal.

The Red Devils were on the front foot right away, with Timothy Castagne forcing Matt Freese into his biggest save of the tournament after just 45 seconds. At the other end, Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois repeatedly slowed play down when the ball came to him, drawing boos from the packed crowd in Seattle but otherwise quieting the venue.

The game plan paid off in the ninth minute. After a long passing sequence that pulled the U.S. defense apart, Alex Freeman was short with an attempted headed clearance, Weston McKennie failed to get the loose ball, and Nicolas Raskin slipped a short pass for an unmarked De Ketelare to tap in from close range.

When the midhalf hydration break arrived, Belgium had a 7-0 advantage in shots. But soon after play resumed, the Americans’ first attempt of the game went in the net in remarkable fashion.

Brandon Mechele pushed over Balogun about 22 yards from goal, Tillman stepped up for the free kick, and his shot at goal deflected off the head of a leaping Hans Vanaken. The crowd of 66,925 erupted with so much joy that the stadium stands shook.

Belgium, however, was unmoved. Not even two minutes passed before De Ketelaere put the Red Devils back in front. Leandro Trossard beat Sergiño Dest off the dribble, sent in a cross, and De Ketelaere jumped between Antonee Robinson and Tim Ream — flat-out overpowering the latter — to head the ball in.

At halftime, it was 2-1, and the shots were 11-3. Pochettino made his first substitution at halftime, pulling Dest and sending in Gio Reyna. It made the U.S. more lively, but it did nothing to stop Belgium from scoring a catastrophic third goal.

Mechele hit a simple long ball out of the back, and Freese gambled by coming far off his line to try to play it. But he failed to, De Ketelaere picked his pocket from behind, and the ball rolled to Vanaken. All he had to do was put a shot on frame, and, though Ream tried to backtrack, he couldn’t block the ball.

After that, Pochettino withdrew Christian Pulisic, who had been clattered in a challenge that went uncalled a few minutes earlier, and sent in Sebastian Berhalter.

When the Hershey native sat down on the bench, he put his head in his jersey, disconsolate. But he hadn’t been that effective when on the field.

Pochettino sent Ricardo Pepi in for Tyler Adams in the 72nd, but the move didn’t produce many chances. The Americans only mustered three more shots the rest of the way.

Romelu Lukaku finished the job in second-half stoppage time, taking the ball off Chris Richards and firing past Freese to the far post.

It was significant that the U.S. men won a World Cup knockout game for the first time in 24 years. But this team, with players hyped as a golden generation of talent, had aimed higher — and so had Pochettino, paid $6 million per year by U.S. Soccer’s big donors from the private equity world.

In the end, what they produced wasn’t any better than their predecessors: a round of 16 loss to a familiar foe and an exit with a whimper instead of a bang.

The U.S. men’s soccer team’s World Cup round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina broke the record for the most-watched soccer game in American broadcast history.

Fox’s English broadcast drew an audience of 26.395 million viewers, and Telemundo’s broadcast in Spanish drew 9.8 million, between TV and streaming platforms. The combined total of 36,195,000 blows away the previous record of 27,314,274 that watched the 2014 men’s World Cup final between Argentina and Germany on ABC and Univision.

That record actually has been broken twice this summer. The Mexico-Ecuador round of 32 game, played a day before U.S.-Bosnia, drew an audience of 29.33 million: 24.429 million on Fox’s platforms and 9.1 million on Telemundo’s.

Fox’s U.S.-Bosnia audience also set a new record for the biggest audience to watch a soccer game on a single network. That mark had been the 25.632 million who watched the 2015 women’s World Cup final between the U.S. and Japan, which was a prime time kickoff, since the tournament was in Canada.

According to the data published by the networks so far, 27 games in this World Cup have drawn combined audiences of over 10 million viewers. Eleven have drawn audiences over 15 million, and seven have drawn over 20 million — including all of the U.S.’s group games, and Mexico’s group-stage contest vs. South Korea and round of 16 win over England.

The data isn’t complete, as the networks haven’t released data for all of their broadcasts. Particularly, there are gaps in the simultaneous games at the end of the group stage and the round of 32.

More numbers should be published this week.

SEATTLE — U.S. men’s soccer team star striker Folarin Balogun will be available to play in Monday’s World Cup round-of-16 game after all.

FIFA announced just before the team’s practice on Sunday that the one-game suspension that came with Balogun’s red card against Bosnia in the round of 32 has been suspended “for a probationary period of one year.” The governing body said it invoked Article 27 of its disciplinary code, which says, “The judicial body may decide to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.”

It’s a special treatment that world soccer’s governing body has only given twice in its history.

At the 1962 World Cup, Brazilian star Garrincha had a red card overturned after lobbying from his nation’s federation and host Chile’s president — and, allegedly, a potential bribe to a referee, allowing him to play in the final.

Last November, FIFA suspended two games of a three-game ban given to Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo after he elbowed a Republic of Ireland player in a World Cup qualifier. That allowed him to play in two group games this summer that he otherwise would have missed.

“In line with article 27 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the implementation of the match suspension is suspended,” the governing body’s statement said.

Balogun was ejected during the U.S. round-of-32 win for running the studs of his right cleat down Bosnia’s Tarik Muharemović’s right calf before catching the back of his foot.

Referee Raphael Claus didn’t call it at first, but the video review officials saw it and recommended that Claus take a second look. Once he did, the red card felt inevitable.

FIFA does not allow appeals of red cards, but the governing body can decide on its own to suspend a suspension.

There’s some irony in the fact that when the ejection happened, FIFA was criticized for Claus’ use of a slow-motion replay that might have been against the rules of video reviews. But FIFA’s announcement made no mention of that.

“We accept the decision of the Disciplinary Committee and are pleased that Folarin Balogun is eligible to compete [Monday],” U.S. Soccer said in a statement. “Our full attention is focused on the round of 16 match against Belgium in Seattle, and we look forward to the continued support of our amazing fans.”

Confusion over the rules

Star playmaker Christian Pulisic opened a can of worms when he said, “Obviously we made that appeal, and felt like there was a good chance, because anyone can look at that and say it was super harsh.”

A U.S. Soccer spokesperson was asked if there was, in fact, an appeal or if Pulisic misspoke, given the federation’s previous statement that no appeal was possible. The response was that U.S. Soccer was “engaged in the process” with FIFA’s disciplinary committee, but no details were given.

U.S. players found out about the decision on the bus ride over to Friday morning’s practice. Balogun was not among the players who spoke when they arrived. He said on Saturday that he disagreed with the decision, but had moved on in part to be a role model for fans watching.

“We weren’t quite sure if it was true or not,” centerback Chris Richards said of the moment he heard the news. “I think everyone knows with AI and with this and that, [there] can be a few question marks. But ultimately we found out through social media, so it was cool to finally get the confirmation that it was true.”

Asked what it means that Balogun got treatment only previously accorded to Ronaldo, he said: “I don’t know what goes on behind the scenes — I don’t know if they’re comparing Flo to Cristiano Ronaldo or what’s going on. I try to focus on what goes on on the field, but clearly they saw something in the decision that they thought deserved to be overturned.”

Fellow defender Alex Freeman said, “I had no clue” that it was in the works.

“I think it’s a little strange for us,” he said. “I have no clue how it happened, but for us, we’re just happy that it happened, and happy that we’re able to go in and have a phenomenal player like Balogun to be able to go in and play.”

There was immediate criticism on social media, including from international journalists who accused FIFA of rigging the game for the host country.

A statement from Belgium’s federation said it was “astonished by FIFA’s decision,” and that “in order to safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both at this FIFA World Cup and at future editions of the tournament,” it was “investigating all potential options.”

But it did not say what those options could be.

Belgium manager Rudi Garcia was even more blunt in his news conference Sunday afternoon.

“I didn’t know that at FIFA’s headquarters, July 5 is the same thing as April 1 in Europe,” referring to a calendar date that also applies in the United States. “I think you should refer to the statement by my federation … The Belgian federation isn’t just defending itself, it’s not just defending the national team. It’s defending football in general. It’s defending its integrity, defending its ethics.”

Another question on the subject drew a quick “Don’t waste your time asking about it” answer. And when Garcia was asked if he believed his star striker Romelu Lukaku would get the same treatment from FIFA, he answered: “Ah, I can’t answer that question.”

But those reactions were just the tip of the iceberg.

Trump lobbied his friend

A source with knowledge of the matter confirmed reports that President Donald Trump personally called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to lobby for Balogun’s suspension to be overturned.

The New York Times reported that Trump called Infantino on Wednesday — the night the game was played in Santa Clara, Calif. — and English radio network TalkSport reported that “FIFA sources insist White House influence could not affect the decision.”

That did not stop Trump from posting on his Truth Social platform: “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!”

A request for further comment from FIFA has not yet been returned.

Sources in Seattle said there was a point in the past few days when Trump or Vice President J.D. Vance might attend Monday’s game, with authorities in town preparing for them to visit. But it was confirmed on Friday that they are not.

U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino said he wasn’t involved in any lobbying by U.S. Soccer, though he named CEO JT Batson as someone who was. Pochettino also said he didn’t know about Trump’s involvement until reporters told him at his news conference.

“No, we cannot mix that,” he said. “That is a decision from FIFA with the evidence that happened before, and that’s it.”

But he was, of course, very happy that the decision went his team’s way.

“It’s not only because I am the coach of the U.S. men’s national team that I need to defend my side,” Pochettino said. “I think it’s 100% — or 99%, because there are always some people, 99.9% — we all agree that was an unfair red card.”

He also was not surprised that it became such a big deal.

“I come from cultures in Argentina [in] Europe where fútbol, soccer, is more than a religion. It does not surprise me that in this country, that feeling has started to grow.”

Pochettino spoke repeatedly of his respect for Garcia, whom he has known a long time. But beyond that, he said “I think it’s fair, the decision, to not punish us more. Because I think it was enough. And now focus on the game.”

Staff writer Dugan Arnett contributed to this article.