Both co-hosts are out: USA falls 1-4 to Belgium, one day after Mexico's Azteca heartbreak

Seattle, Monday night: Belgium 4, USA 1

The scoreline is honest. Belgium was better in almost every phase, and the game turned on a striker having the night of his tournament. Charles De Ketelaere opened it in the 9th minute, and after Malik Tillman answered in the 31st to briefly level things and lift the whole stadium, De Ketelaere hit right back two minutes later. That 33rd minute goal is the one that will sting. The US had done the hard part, dragged itself back into the game, and gave the lead away before anyone had finished celebrating.

Hans Vanaken made it 3-1 in the 57th, and from there the US chased the game without ever really threatening to catch it. Romelu Lukaku added the fourth in stoppage time, which felt less like a dagger and more like a formality. Belgium moves on to the quarterfinals. The US goes home from its own World Cup in the round of 16, the same round it reached in 2010 and 2014, which is the uncomfortable part. A home tournament was supposed to be the step forward.

My honest take: this US squad was better than the 2022 version but ran into a Belgium side playing its best soccer at the right time. That is not a scandal, it is a tournament. The bigger question is what happens to the sport here now that the party is over for the home team, and I think the answer is more encouraging than tonight feels. Every kid who watched this run got the full experience, including the ending that hurts. That is how fans get made.

Sunday at the Azteca: England 3, Mexico 2

Mexico's exit a day earlier was crueler. In front of 80,824 at the Estadio Azteca, after a thunderstorm delay, Mexico lost a World Cup match at that stadium for the first time ever. Jude Bellingham scored twice in a span of 98 seconds, a header in the 36th minute and another in the 38th off a Harry Kane pass, and just like that a rocking building went quiet.

Julián Quiñones pulled one back in the 42nd, and the match flipped when England's Jarell Quansah was sent off in the 54th for a dangerous foul. Mexico had a man advantage, the crowd, and the momentum. Then goalkeeper Raúl Rangel gave up a penalty, Kane buried it for his sixth goal of the tournament, and even a second Mexico goal was not enough. El Tri is still looking for its first quarterfinal since 1986, the last time it hosted. Playing a man up at the Azteca and going out anyway is the kind of loss a fanbase carries for years.

The other Monday result: Spain 1, Portugal 0

Almost lost in the co-host misery, Spain and Portugal played a heavyweight round of 16 match at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, and it went the full ninety-plus. Spain won it with a goal in the first minute of stoppage time, sending Portugal home. Losing an elimination game to your neighbor and rival on a 91st minute goal is its own special category of pain, and Spain now looks like one of the scariest sides left in the bracket.

What is left, and what to watch Tuesday

The round of 16 wraps up Tuesday with Argentina against Egypt in Atlanta and Switzerland against Colombia in Vancouver. Argentina already survived one scare in this tournament, needing extra time to get past a fearless Cape Verde side, so nobody should pencil them through. After that the quarterfinals are set, with Belgium, England, Spain, and Norway, yes Norway, the team that knocked out Brazil, all still alive. Canada carries the host flag alone now.

Full brackets, schedules, and match reports are at FIFA's official tournament hub, and ESPN's schedule and results page is the easiest single place to follow the rest of the knockout rounds.

Scores and details above were verified against FIFA, ESPN, and wire reporting on the evening of Monday, July 6, 2026. If you are reading this later, the bracket has moved on without us, check the links above. Verified July 6, 2026.