{"id":33252,"date":"2026-07-04T21:43:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T01:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/belgium-players-say-they-will-need-balls-to-nullify-home-crowd-against-us-world-cup-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T21:43:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T01:43:21","slug":"belgium-players-say-they-will-need-balls-to-nullify-home-crowd-against-us-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/belgium-players-say-they-will-need-balls-to-nullify-home-crowd-against-us-world-cup-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgium players say they will need \u2018balls\u2019 to nullify home crowd against US | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n<\/p>\n

A raucous, pro-US crowd is expected in Seattle for the Americans\u2019 last-16 match against Belgium on Monday, but the Red Devils say that they don\u2019t fear the atmosphere that will await them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we just have to \u2026 show balls on the pitch,\u201d left-back Maxim De Cuyper said on Friday. \u201cTry to play your own game. If you play against 80,000 supporters or with 80,000, you have to try to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Americans have enjoyed strong support from home crowds throughout the tournament, including in Seattle, where just under 67,000 watched the US defeat Australia in their second group game.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as it turns a little less good for them, [the crowd] can also turn against them, and they will have more pressure,\u201d full-back Timothy Castagne said. \u201cSo, I don\u2019t have a problem, it doesn\u2019t bother me. We play and we don\u2019t hear what\u2019s going on around the pitch. When we\u2019re on the pitch, we\u2019re a bit in our bubble.\u201d<\/p>\n

This won\u2019t be the first meeting between the sides in 2026. In March, Belgium humbled the US 5-2 in Atlanta \u2013 a result that created significant doubt about the Americans\u2019 prospects at this World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have been growing a lot since the last friendly game,\u201d said Dodi Luk\u00e9bakio, who scored twice in the 5-2 rout.<\/p>\n

De Cuyper warned against drawing too many conclusions from Belgium\u2019s victory in March, saying the scoreline gave the game a \u201cdistorted picture\u201d. He also praised Senne Lammens\u2019s performance in that match, saying the result could have been different without the goalkeeper.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was already being said back then that we might face the US at the World Cup,\u201d De Cuyper said. \u201cOf course, many players weren\u2019t there at the time. But it is an advantage that we have already seen them. We are taking things away from it. Although it remains to be seen how they present themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US will be without striker Folarin Balogun, who is suspended after receiving a controversial red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Balogun has been among the United States\u2019 most dangerous players at the World Cup, but De Cuyper was coy when pressed about how his team will adapt to facing new personnel up top.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t want to say too much, which qualities are the best,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have a lot of danger in the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veteran midfielder Axel Witsel was more forthcoming, saying that Belgium will \u201cabsolutely have to adapt to the fact that they play three at the back. I think we have the weapons to hurt them. We had already done it in a friendly in March, but today the context is totally different \u2026 in a stadium that will be only for them against us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A raucous, pro-US crowd is expected in Seattle for the Americans\u2019 last-16 match against Belgium on Monday, but the Red Devils say that they don\u2019t fear the atmosphere that will await them. \u201cI think we just have to \u2026 show balls on the pitch,\u201d left-back Maxim De Cuyper said on Friday. \u201cTry to play your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/736f9d64a8bd9dfee5566c17158c3e18e5ce57fa\/735_0_3608_2888\/master\/3608.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=b6286fa2f74788a1f2068e240e924059","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10666],"tags":[3789,3784,4529,952,38,23346,1557,919],"class_list":["post-33252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reparations","tag-balls","tag-belgium","tag-crowd","tag-cup","tag-home","tag-nullify","tag-players","tag-world"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/736f9d64a8bd9dfee5566c17158c3e18e5ce57fa\/735_0_3608_2888\/master\/3608.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=b6286fa2f74788a1f2068e240e924059",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/736f9d64a8bd9dfee5566c17158c3e18e5ce57fa\/735_0_3608_2888\/master\/3608.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=b6286fa2f74788a1f2068e240e924059",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/736f9d64a8bd9dfee5566c17158c3e18e5ce57fa\/735_0_3608_2888\/master\/3608.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=b6286fa2f74788a1f2068e240e924059",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/736f9d64a8bd9dfee5566c17158c3e18e5ce57fa\/735_0_3608_2888\/master\/3608.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=b6286fa2f74788a1f2068e240e924059",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/736f9d64a8bd9dfee5566c17158c3e18e5ce57fa\/735_0_3608_2888\/master\/3608.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=b6286fa2f74788a1f2068e240e924059",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/736f9d64a8bd9dfee5566c17158c3e18e5ce57fa\/735_0_3608_2888\/master\/3608.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=b6286fa2f74788a1f2068e240e924059",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/736f9d64a8bd9dfee5566c17158c3e18e5ce57fa\/735_0_3608_2888\/master\/3608.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=b6286fa2f74788a1f2068e240e924059",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/736f9d64a8bd9dfee5566c17158c3e18e5ce57fa\/735_0_3608_2888\/master\/3608.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=b6286fa2f74788a1f2068e240e924059",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/736f9d64a8bd9dfee5566c17158c3e18e5ce57fa\/735_0_3608_2888\/master\/3608.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=b6286fa2f74788a1f2068e240e924059",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/736f9d64a8bd9dfee5566c17158c3e18e5ce57fa\/735_0_3608_2888\/master\/3608.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=b6286fa2f74788a1f2068e240e924059",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/736f9d64a8bd9dfee5566c17158c3e18e5ce57fa\/735_0_3608_2888\/master\/3608.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&prec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NEWS<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"A raucous, pro-US crowd is expected in Seattle for the Americans\u2019 last-16 match against Belgium on Monday, but the Red Devils say that they don\u2019t fear the atmosphere that will await them. \u201cI think we just have to \u2026 show balls on the pitch,\u201d left-back Maxim De Cuyper said on Friday. \u201cTry to play 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