Rudi Garcia's side were in control from the opening whistle and made their dominance count with two goals from Charles De Ketelaere before second-half strikes from Hans Vanaken and Romelu Lukaku completed an impressive victory. Belgium will now face European champions Spain in Los Angeles for a place in the semi-finals.

The visitors almost took the lead inside the opening minute when Timothy Castagne's long-range effort forced Matt Freese into an early save. Belgium continued to apply pressure and opened the scoring after nine minutes when Nicolas Raskin capitalised on poor American defending before setting up De Ketelaere for a simple finish.

Belgium suffered an early setback when Amadou Onana was forced off with a knee injury, but they remained in control despite the USA equalising just after the half-hour mark. Malik Tillman curled a free-kick into the net via a deflection to briefly lift the home crowd.

The celebrations were short-lived. Less than two minutes later, De Ketelaere restored Belgium's lead, rising above the American defence to head home Leandro Trossard's cross and complete his brace.

Mauricio Pochettino responded by introducing Giovanni Reyna at half-time, but Belgium extended their advantage in the 57th minute. Freese rushed out of his area but gifted possession to Vanaken, who calmly found the empty net from long range.

Romelu Lukaku added a late fourth goal to seal Belgium's seventh consecutive victory over the United States and confirm the elimination of all three 2026 World Cup host nations before the quarter-finals.

Despite the heavy defeat, Pochettino refused to blame the pre-match controversy surrounding Folarin Balogun, whose one-match suspension was put on hold, allowing him to start against Belgium.

"I think we were not good enough today, we don't need to find another excuse," Pochettino said.

"Today, we were not the same team as we were in the tournament. It is a very bad day for everyone; we need to accept that this happens, but in a World Cup, we have no second chance. We are out, and we need to accept that."

Pochettino also insisted the defeat should not overshadow the progress his team had made during his time in charge.

"The improvement or to grow is not like you are in a rocket," he said. "One year ago, before the Gold Cup, no one believed we would be playing Belgium, a contender to win the World Cup.

"Now we need to rest, have conversations and then see what decision the federation makes. In the next weeks, we can start to talk if the federation wants to talk."

The former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain manager also dismissed suggestions that the Balogun situation affected his players.

"It didn't affect our performance. It is not an excuse," Pochettino said.

"It wasn't our day. My job is to train the team, and if you have a player like Balogun available, it is not a problem. I feel disappointed with so many people because they mixed things."

Belgium, meanwhile, now turn their attention to a mouth-watering quarter-final against Spain after one of their most convincing performances of the tournament.

Steve Barker in awe of current Stellenbosch squad