Belgium broke through against the United States in the ninth minute Monday, with Charles De Ketelaere converting from close range to snap a scoreless deadlock in the World Cup Round of 16 at Lumen Field.
The goal arrived despite an electric start from goalkeeper Matt Freese, whose diving save on a Timothy Castagne rocket in the opening minute had briefly made him the story of the match.
Freese denied Castagne’s long-range effort with a full-stretch save that had the crowd at Lumen Field on its feet before the first water break. He followed that stop by claiming a cross inside his own box around the seventh minute, looking every bit the goalkeeper who arrived in Seattle as the winningest in U.S. World Cup history.
But Freese went quickly from the heights to the pits when he made a disastrous mistake that allowed Belgium to score a third goal.
A long ball was played toward or contested by Belgian forward Charles De Ketelaere. Freese ventured far outside his penalty area (well beyond a routine position) to deal with it—likely intending to intercept, chest it down, or clear with his feet.
He had a poor first touch, was slow to react or move his feet under pressure, and was easily dispossessed. The loose ball fell kindly to Belgian midfielder Hans Vanaken, who finished clinically into an empty net. USA defender Tim Ream was in a good position to potentially clear or block but whiffed on his attempt while scrambling.
Matt Freese Couldn’t Prevent Belgium’s Breakthrough
Belgium answered in the ninth minute. Dodi Lukebakio held the ball up near the top of the box and slid it wide to an overlapping Castagne, whose low cross toward Youri Tielemans was mistimed by the midfielder. The Red Devils recycled possession and worked the ball back to De Ketelaere, who finished from point-blank range, according to ESPN’s match coverage of the game at Lumen Field.
Freese had no chance on the goal. Multiple defenders stood flat-footed inside the box as Belgium worked the sequence, and instant social media reaction blasted the marking as disorganized in the moments after the ball hit the net. The breakdown left the goalkeeper unscreened and unable to react to a finish delivered from point-blank range.
United States Defense Exposed
The concession followed a familiar script for a Belgium side according to Yahoo Sports’ coverage that trailed Senegal in the round of 32 before an extra-time penalty rescued its tournament. Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, who scored both Belgian goals in the 2014 round of 16 defeat of the United States, remain central figures for a Red Devils team that has now scored early in consecutive knockout matches, though neither started the game on Monday.
That 2014 loss, a 2-1 extra-time defeat remembered for goalkeeper Tim Howard’s 16-save performance, still hangs over this rivalry. The Americans arrived at Monday’s rematch off their first knockout win since 2002, a victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina that ended a 24-year drought without a World Cup elimination-game win.
The Harvard-Trained Path Behind Freese’s World Cup Save
Freese, 27 and a Philadelphia Union academy product, reached the U.S. starting job one year after his senior debut. He earned the start in the tournament opener against Paraguay in June, becoming the first Union homegrown player to appear in a World Cup match.
“I dream of this opportunity, you work for this opportunity, but you never know what’s going to come,” Freese said, according to U.S. Soccer.
His path ran through Harvard, where he studied economics and wrote an undergraduate research project on penalty kicks before leaving school early to sign with the Union in 2018 and finishing his degree online in 2022. He comes from a family of decorated scientists, led by his late father, neurosurgeon and gene-therapy researcher Dr. Andrew Freese.
Traded to New York City FC in 2023, Freese became the club’s 2024 Most Valuable Player on the strength of shot-stopping instincts that carried into three penalty saves against Costa Rica at last year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Who Is Matt Freese? USA Goalie’s Disastrous Mistake Allows Belgium’s Third Goal