Belgium and USA will battle to stay alive at Seattle Stadium, Washington. Playing for qualification to the quarterfinals—where a win, tie, or loss will define their continuity in the 2026 World Cup—it has now been confirmed that Belgium will not start their star, Kevin De Bruyne.
The decision to send De Bruyne to the bench appears to be Rudi Garcia‘s choice after poor performances from the midfielder. Before the game, the coach announced that three players were not at 100%, one of them appears to be De Bruyne, who hasn’t shown the best version of himself in this World Cup so far. Romelu Lukaku isn’t starting today against the USA either.
With De Bruyne benched, Garcia has decided to form the midfield with Youri Tielemans, Nicolas Raskin, and Amadou Onana. Furthermore, Belgium will not start Jeremy Doku, who was subbed off along with De Bruyne during the Round of 32 against Senegal. 56 minutes into the game, both left the field and Belgium ended up completing a 3-2 comeback in overtime.
De Bruyne’s poor form
It is worth remembering that De Bruyne started all four matches the European side has played so far in the World Cup. However, he was substituted in all of them. In the opener against Egypt, he played 86 minutes; against Iran, 87 minutes; against New Zealand, 72 minutes; and in the Round of 32, he left the pitch in the 56th minute, shortly after the second half began.
Kevin De Bruyne of Belgium
What is next for USA and Belgium
The US squad enters this matchup after eliminating Bosnia and Herzegovina in the previous round, while Belgium come off pulling off an incredible comeback against Senegal in a match that was decided with plenty of emotion in the final minutes.
The winner of this duel will face Spain in the quarterfinals. Spain secured a dramatic qualification after defeating Portugal 1-0 with a late goal from Mikel Merino, knocking Cristiano Ronaldo out of the 2026 World Cup.
Confirmed lineups
Belgium will line up as follows: Thibaut Courtois; Brandon Mechele, Maxim De Cuyper, Timothy Castagne, Nathan Ngoy; Youri Tielemans, Nicolas Raskin, Amadou Onana; Leandro Trossard, Dodi Lukebakio, Charles De Ketelaere.
Mauricio Pochettino, on his side, will take advantage of the controversial return of Folarin Balogun: Matt Freese; Sergino Dest, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Tim Ream, Alex Freeman; Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Malik Tillman; Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun.
