Klinsmann on USA's World Cup rematch with Belgium

When the United States were drawn against Belgium in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16, it immediately brought back memories of their dramatic encounter at Brazil 2014. That match, also a Round of 16 tie, saw the USA fall 2-1 in extra time despite a record-breaking performance by goalkeeper Tim Howard, who made 16 saves. Now, 12 years later, the two teams meet again in Seattle on Monday, with four Belgian players from that 2014 squad still on the roster: Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, and Axel Witsel.

Klinsmann's Perspective on the Rematch

Jurgen Klinsmann, who coached the USA in 2014 and is now part of FIFA's Technical Study Group for World Cup 2026, shared his thoughts on the upcoming match. He acknowledged Belgium's edge in experience and quality but noted the USA's progress.

"I would slightly put Belgium as a favourite because of their history and the quality of the team. They also had a friendly [in March] where they looked really strong against the US, winning 5-2 so I give the favourite role to Belgium. But the US team has matured and has an incredible amount of confidence now as well as a belief through being the home team and on a good run."

Klinsmann emphasized that the USA's performance in their opening group match against Paraguay—a dominant first half—showed their potential. "If they get close to that level of play, they are capable of beating Belgium," he said.

Belgium's Tournament Experience

Belgium, despite a slow start to their campaign, have found their rhythm. Klinsmann highlighted their tournament pedigree: "They know when to step it up and raise the bar. They have players who can make a difference in a split-second. They are used to these kinds of situations; it's a tournament team." He added that Belgium are not the overall favorites to win the World Cup but can "hurt every favourite in the tournament if they want to." The Red Devils, he noted, will not be intimidated by a large home crowd. "That's just a normal day in the office for them."

Memories of Brazil 2014

Reflecting on the 2014 encounter, Klinsmann recalled the USA's belief heading into the match. "We went in with the belief that we could beat them because we proved in the group stage that we could hurt the big ones. We almost beat Portugal, we were 2-1 up until the 94th minute against [Cristiano] Ronaldo and Co in Manaus. Then we would have been first in the group before a game against Germany, who we almost hurt with a couple of really good chances that we had in that match [a 1-0 defeat]."

He noted that surviving the "Group of Death" gave the team confidence. "Even if they were the dominant team that day and created more chances than we did, we still had our chances to score."

Tim Howard's Iconic Performance

Klinsmann praised Howard's 16-save display, calling it "exceptional." He said, "Those days as a goalkeeper you always keep in your memories and you can tell many stories about that game to your grandkids at one point. It was fantastic, we were super-proud of Tim. And we were proud of the entire team of what they achieved in Brazil. But there was definitely a chance to beat Belgium in that Round of 16."

What a Victory Would Mean

Klinsmann emphasized the significance of a USA win for the growth of soccer in the country. "It would mean a lot because the game has been consistently growing over the past three or four decades. Since 1990, there have been so many milestones that the programme went through in the United States and it would add another milestone in that process to soccer in the US and it would be fantastic."

The USA enter the match with confidence, bolstered by the availability of star striker Folarin Balogun, whose red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina was overturned. Belgium, meanwhile, have shown improvement after a slow start. The stage is set for a compelling rematch in Seattle.