The United States lost to Belgium 1-4 in what was a comfortable win for the European giants. Charles De Ketelaere got a brace in the first half and Hans Vanaken and Romelu Lukaku finished the job off in the second half. Folarin Balogun's inclusion despite his red card in the previous game had been the biggest talking point ahead of the match, but it was Belgium's centre-forwards that stole the show.
They now take on Spain in the quarterfinal, after Spain narrowly edged out Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal 1-0 just hours previously.
On paper, this had been set up as a fascinating tactical battle but right off the bat it was clear Rudi Garcia had Mauricio Pochettino's number in this one. Belgium started quickly -- something they've not done all tournament -- winning a corner in the first minute. De Ketelaere opened the scoring in the ninth minute, when he ghosted in to tap-in Nicolas Raskin's clever pass across the face of goal. Belgium then seemed to exercise complete control of the match as they set the tempo and passed it around midfield.
Against the run of play, though, Balogun won a foul and Malik Tillman swept the freekick in via a big deflection to bring USA level. Parity lasted just 56 seconds as De Ketelaere rose brilliantly to head home a Leandro Trossard cross from close range.
The US started the second half well, but a mistake from Matt Freese, the goalkeeper dawdling on the ball outside his own penalty box, saw De Ketelaere steal the ball off him and set up Hans Vanaken for an easy third. The US then struggled to build any attacking momentum, and Belgium added a decorative fourth with Vanaken setting up Romelu Lukaku for a sensational finish from a tight angle.