Belgium beat USA 4-1 to set up Spain quarterfinal as De Ketelaere stars

Belgium beat the United States 4-1 at Seattle Stadium to book a World Cup quarterfinal against Spain in Los Angeles on Friday, with Charles De Ketelaere scoring twice in a first half Belgium controlled throughout.

De Ketelaere opened the scoring in the ninth minute, finishing after Nicolas Raskin slipped a smart pass through the US defence.

Malik Tillman levelled for the United States with another deflected free-kick – his second of the tournament.

Belgium restored their lead within two minutes. Leandro Trossard beat Sergino Dest on the left and delivered a cross to the back post, where De Ketelaere leapt above Tim Ream to head home and make it 2-1 at the break.

[See more: Spain end Ronaldo’s World Cup career with stoppage time winner over Portugal]

Belgium lost Amadou Onana to injury inside the first half, with Hans Vanaken coming on as a replacement. Vanaken then became central to the third goal.

Matt Freese came well beyond his box to deal with a long ball and could only chest it into the path of De Ketelaere, who squared for Vanaken to finish into an empty net in the 57th minute to make it 3-1.

Christian Pulisic was substituted off moments later and broke down in tears on the touchline. Folarin Balogun, whose eligibility had dominated the build-up after FIFA overturned his red card suspension, had a chance to pull one back but was denied by Thibaut Courtois one-on-one.

Substitute Romelu Lukaku sealed it in the 90+3 minute, poking home after Chris Richards lost possession under pressure.