Belgium rubbed salt in the United States’ wounds after knocking co-hosts the United States out of the 2026 World Cup, celebrating their 4-1 victory in the last 16 with two cheeky social media posts that quickly went viral on social media.The Belgian Red Devils appeared to take direct aim at the controversy surrounding Folarin Balogun’s suspension, posting a scathing message on Instagram shortly after the final whistle.
“Overthrow this” post goes viral
After the emphatic win in Seattle, Belgium shared an Instagram Story that simply read: “Top this.”The comments were widely interpreted as a dig at FIFA’s decision to suspend Balogun’s automatic ban the day before the knockout rounds. Balogun was shown a red card in the United States’ round-of-32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, triggering an automatic suspension. However, FIFA subsequently invoked Article 27 of its disciplinary code and postponed the ban for a year, allowing the striker to feature against Belgium.Also read: After all, Balogun’s controversial FIFA reprieve ended with World Cup heartbreak but little impactThe decision sparked widespread criticism within the football community, with the Belgian Football Association unsuccessfully questioning Balogun’s eligibility before kick-off.Belgium didn’t stop there.The Red Devils also reignited the long-standing ‘football’ vs ‘soccer’ debate by posting on X saying: “It’s called football”.The entertaining jab sparked an immediate reaction from fans, especially after Belgium ended the hosts’ World Cup campaign with a convincing victory.
Belgium dominates despite Balog controversy
On the pitch, Belgium ensured that the pre-match controversy was little more than a footnote to a clinical performance.Charles De Ketelaere was awarded the Man of the Match award after scoring twice and providing an assist to help Belgium advance to the quarter-finals. Hans Vanaken scores his maiden goal fifa world cup Substitute Lukaku scored in stoppage time, his third consecutive World Cup goal.The United States briefly threatened in the first half when Malik Tillman deflected a free kick to level the score, but Belgium responded almost immediately and took complete control of the game after the break.A costly error from goalkeeper Matt Freese gifted Belgium a third goal, while Lukaku capitalized on a late defensive error to seal a victory.Also read: Romelu Lukaku writes unique World Cup history with super-sub feat as Belgium ends Team USA’s dreamBalogun dominated the headlines before kick-off but failed to justify the attention raised by FIFA’s decision. The striker, who scored three Championship goals in the game, helped win Tillman’s equalizing free-kick but struggled to influence the proceedings before being substituted late in the game.The defeat ended the United States’ hopes of reaching the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2002 and made them the last of three co-hosts to withdraw from the tournament, after Canada and Mexico.
