SEATTLE (AP) — After a successful stunt, he pulled Folarin Balogun’s suspension has been lifted. The United States will try to win back-to-back knockout matches at the World Cup for the first time and advance to the quarterfinals, something it hasn’t done since 2002.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino expects his starting lineup to be available on Monday when the Americans, ranked 17th before the tournament, meet ninth-seeded Belgium in a rematch of the 2014 round of 16 tie in Brazil, which the Red Devils won 2-1 in overtime.
“They have a lot of players who can hurt you and we have to be ready,” said Christian Pulisic, the top American man. “We have to be decisive in many aspects.”
At stake is a spot in the quarter-finals, where they will face Spain or Portugal, as well as the chance to face France or Morocco in the semi-finals.
Belgium came back from a two-goal deficit in the 86th minute to beat Senegal 3-2 after extra time in the round of 16. The Red Devils beat the United States 12 years ago with goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku and again 5-2 in a friendly in Atlanta in March.
“We’re two very different teams now than we were in March,” U.S. captain Tim Rome said.
Belgium does not attach much importance to the previous confrontation this year.
“The 2-5 scoreline against the USA in March gives a distorted picture. It could have ended differently,” said defender Maxime De Cuyper.
More than 66,000 seats are expected to be sold at Lumen Field, where the asking price for seats in the Hawk’s Nest triangle above the north end on FIFA’s resale site ranged from $1,840 to $8,050 on Sunday.
A huge red-white-blue pro-American association. the crowd sang “Take Me Home, Country Roads” to John Denver’s team on June 19 after the team’s 2-0 group stage win over Australia. Fans are known for pregame marching down Occidental Avenue to the stadium before MLS Seattle Sounders games.
“The number 12 players, as they call them here,” said Argentine Pochettino.
After losing their final group stage game to Turkey 3-2 with a stoppage-time goal, the Americans entered the playoffs on a streak of 10 losses in 10 games over four years against European opponents. The United States beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 on goals from Balogun and Malik Tillman for their second World Cup playoff win.
Balogun is cleared to play after FIFA overturned his suspension for his red card against Bosnia. The decision was made after a telephone call from US President Donald Trump to FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Reaching the quarterfinals would be a huge leap for this group of players trying to advance a sport whose popularity in the United States lags behind its top status in the rest of the world.
Linebacker Tyler Adams, the team’s 2022 captain, said Friday: “We want to leave our mark on the game and legacy. I want it to be more than just what this moment and the hype around it created. We know that the further we go, the more success we will achieve and the more the sport will develop.”
Belgium qualified for the 2014 World Cup after a 12-year absence and entered the tournament with a team that included goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, De Bruyne and Eden Hazard in midfield, and Lukaku and Divock Origi in attack. The Red Devils were top of the FIFA rankings from November 2015 to March 2016 and again from September 2018 to February 2022, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals in 2014, the semi-finals in 2018 and the group stage in 2022.
Four players from the 2014 squad remain: Courtois, De Bruyne, Lukaku and midfielder Axel Witsel.
“This is a new era for us. It’s true that there are players from the golden era, as some people like to say,” Courtois said. “Now we have another generation of young people, new people ready to do great things and write a page in Belgian history.”
Pochettino has already become the first US coach to win three World Cups. American players are hell-bent on raising the sport’s popularity in the United States to a level much closer to that of the NFL, Major League Baseball and NBA.
“We’ve all said one way or another how timely this tournament could be. If we have a good tournament and do everything right, it could take us who knows how far?” – said Ream.
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AP Sports Writer Andrew Destin contributed to this report.
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