World Cup quarterfinal bracket set after Belgium eliminates U.S.

Belgium ended the United States’ run with a 4-1 win at Seattle Stadium, sending the quarterfinal bracket into place and knocking out the last host nation on July 7. Charles De Ketelaere scored twice for the Red Devils, and Romelu Lukaku added Belgium’s fourth goal in stoppage time.

The result closed the book on the Round of 16, which ran from July 4 through July 7 and trimmed the field to the final eight. FIFA’s match report said De Ketelaere’s first-half double sent Belgium through to the quarterfinals at the expense of the co-hosts, and the official match center listed Lukaku’s goal at 90'+3.

The defeat carried extra weight because all three host nations were gone by the time the round ended. The 2026 tournament is being played across 16 host cities in the United States, Mexico and Canada, but the home-region advantage did not survive the first knockout phase. For the United States, the loss was not just an exit; it was a 4-1 collapse against a Belgium side that finished the job with late precision.

That is the backdrop for the FOX Sports World Cup NOW crew's power rankings of the eight remaining teams. Melissa Ortiz, Maurice Edu, Brad Guzan and Sacha Kljestan took a fresh look at the bracket as the tournament shifted from surviving the Round of 16 to identifying who is built to win the title. In a field this thin, form and bracket position matter as much as reputation.

The stakes are higher in 2026 because this is the first 48-team World Cup, with 104 matches scheduled from June 11 to July 19. Expanding the field changed the path to the trophy, but not the pressure at the top: a team still has to win four knockout matches to lift the cup, and the last eight are where contenders separate from sides that have merely lasted this long.

Quarterfinal play was scheduled for July 9 through July 11, giving the remaining teams only a short window to recover, regroup and prove they belong in the sharp end of the tournament. Belgium arrived with the clearest statement of the round, and the United States left Seattle with the bracket finally set.