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The United States now knows which team could be waiting in the Round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup.
Belgium rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat Senegal, 3-2 in extra time, in Wednesday’s World Cup Round of 32 match, earning a potential matchup with the Americans if the United States takes care of Bosnia and Herzegovina later in the night.
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A win over Bosnia would not just send the Americans into the Round of 16 for the second straight World Cup. It would set up a meeting with a Belgium team that just completed one of the wildest comebacks in the tournament.
Belgium finished third in the 2018 World Cup and failed to advance past the group stage in 2022, but the roster still had the star power to make another deep run. Kevin De Bruyne, Jérémy Doku, Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut Courtois gave the Belgians the kind of skill that makes a team dangerous in any tournament. It’s why Belgium was favored to defeat Senegal.
But games aren’t played on paper.
Senegal got on the board first in the 25th minute, when Habib Diarra cleaned up a rebound after Ismaila Sarr hit the post to give Senegal a 1-0 lead.
The match was briefly interrupted in the 32nd minute when at least three pitch invaders made their way onto the field, forcing officials to stop play while security responded.
Security personnel swarmed the field during the interruption as Belgium defender Maxim De Cuyper held onto the ball while the scene unfolded.
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Photos from the match showed multiple people being apprehended or escorted away by security during the bizarre stoppage.
It was a strange interruption in the middle of a match Senegal had largely controlled. And it didn’t do much to change the flow of the game.
Senegal doubled the lead early in the second half. Sarr, who had already helped create Diarra’s opener by hitting the post, made Belgium pay again in the 51st minute off a pass from Moussa Niakhaté to put Senegal firmly in control.
At that point, Senegal seemed like a lock to advance to the Round of 16 for the second straight World Cup.
But the talented Belgium squad refused to go down easily.
Lukaku cut Senegal’s lead in half in the 86th minute, finishing off a setup from Thomas Meunier to give Belgium life.
Moments later, Youri Tielemans completed the comeback, scoring off a pass from Leandro Trossard to make it 2-2 and throwing what looked like a Senegal upset into complete chaos.
Perhaps surprisingly, Belgium mounted its wild comeback without two of its stars on the field. De Bruyne and Doku were both subbed off in the 56th minute with Belgium trailing 2-0.
The immediate replacements did not factor directly into either goal, but Belgium’s bench still played a major role: halftime substitute Lukaku scored the first, and Thomas Meunier, who came on in the 78th minute, assisted it.
After scoring the equalizer late in regulation, Tielemans stepped to the penalty spot in the 120+5th minute and buried the go-ahead goal to complete Belgium’s stunning comeback.
Senegal went from leading 2-0 in the 86th minute to watching its tournament run come to an end less than an hour later.
Now the focus shifts to the Americans.
The U.S. enters Wednesday night’s match at Levi’s Stadium with a chance to keep its World Cup run alive in front of a home crowd. The reward is clear: beat Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Belgium is next.
The USMNT was favored to advance to the quarterfinals on its side of the Round of 32 draw, with Belgium as the second favorite. For most of the match, it looked like the Americans might avoid Belgium altogether.
Not anymore.
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The Belgians survived and are riding high off a heroic comeback, perhaps making the U.S. path that much more difficult. But before the Americans can even think about that, they have to take care of business against Bosnia.
If they do, their Round of 16 opponent is set.
Belgium will be waiting.
