The United States has made it back to the Round of 16 in the FIFA World Cup, looking to advance to the quarterfinals for only the second time ever.
The USA’s only Round of 16 win came in 2002, when they beat Mexico 2-0. In the last World Cup, the U.S. fell to the Netherlands 3-1 in the Round of 16. The U.S. advanced this year after a convincing 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina last Wednesday. Now, Team USA faces a matchup with Belgium, who is ranked 9th in the FIFA rankings.
Monmouth College Sports Information Director Nathan Baliva shares a preview of tonight’s matchup.
“The Belgium team used to be great. They beat us in 2014 in this round. They went to the semifinals, then got third place in 2018. Now they’re kind of on the decline. They’ve got a couple really good young players that are coming up. Hopefully, we can get out and score early. That’s what we’ve done in every game that we’ve won so far. Put the pressure on the other team, be aggressive. If we can do that through Pulisic and Balogun, get McKennie going, he’s been awesome, and get them going down the wing, I think we’ll be in good shape.”
Tonight’s Round of 16 matchup between the United States and Belgium will kick off on FOX at 7 p.m. The winner will take on the winner of the other Round of 16 matchup this afternoon between Portugal and Spain.
