Belgium players say they will need ‘balls’ to nullify home crowd against US

A raucous, pro-US crowd is expected in Seattle for the Americans’ last-16 match against Belgium on Monday, but the Red Devils say that they don’t fear the atmosphere that will await them.

“I think we just have to … show balls on the pitch,” left-back Maxim De Cuyper said on Friday. “Try to play your own game. If you play against 80,000 supporters or with 80,000, you have to try to do the same.”

The Americans have enjoyed strong support from home crowds throughout the tournament, including in Seattle, where just under 67,000 watched the US defeat Australia in their second group game.

“As soon as it turns a little less good for them, [the crowd] can also turn against them, and they will have more pressure,” full-back Timothy Castagne said. “So, I don’t have a problem, it doesn’t bother me. We play and we don’t hear what’s going on around the pitch. When we’re on the pitch, we’re a bit in our bubble.”

This won’t be the first meeting between the sides in 2026. In March, Belgium humbled the US 5-2 in Atlanta – a result that created significant doubt about the Americans’ prospects at this World Cup.

“They have been growing a lot since the last friendly game,” said Dodi Lukébakio, who scored twice in the 5-2 rout.

De Cuyper warned against drawing too many conclusions from Belgium’s victory in March, saying the scoreline gave the game a “distorted picture”. He also praised Senne Lammens’s performance in that match, saying the result could have been different without the goalkeeper.

“It was already being said back then that we might face the US at the World Cup,” De Cuyper said. “Of course, many players weren’t there at the time. But it is an advantage that we have already seen them. We are taking things away from it. Although it remains to be seen how they present themselves.”

The US will be without striker Folarin Balogun, who is suspended after receiving a controversial red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Balogun has been among the United States’ most dangerous players at the World Cup, but De Cuyper was coy when pressed about how his team will adapt to facing new personnel up top.

“I don’t want to say too much, which qualities are the best,” he said. “They have a lot of danger in the team.”

Veteran midfielder Axel Witsel was more forthcoming, saying that Belgium will “absolutely have to adapt to the fact that they play three at the back. I think we have the weapons to hurt them. We had already done it in a friendly in March, but today the context is totally different … in a stadium that will be only for them against us.”